TRI enters India, sets up centre in Bangalore

Bangalore, Dec 18 (UNI) The London-based Thrombosis Research Institute (TRI) today marked its foray into India by opening a centre here with an ambitious plan to focus on developing novel and affordable preventive treatments for heart diseases.

TRI Founder-Chairman and Trustee Prof V Vijay Kakkar, speaking after the centre's inauguration by President A P J Abdul Kalam, said that according to WHO, heart diseases and stroke killed over 13 million people an year, mostly in developing countries, and 2.7 million people in India.

''Heart disease will become devastative in India if not checked within the next two decades. Though the disease is claiming so many lives, there has been no attempt in India to take up research,'' he regretted.

Prof Kakkar was the man responsible for pioneering the use of new anti-thrombotic medicines to combat thrombosis, responsible for 95 per cent of fatal heart attacks, 92 per cent of fatal strokes and all fatal pulmonary emboli, which were the most common causes of death in hospitalised patients.

He said that in TRI Bangalore, a multi-disciplinary team of world experts would work to accelerate research into the genetic causes of the disease. Areas to be explored included potential new treatments for atherosclerosis - the cause of blocked arteries, heart attack and stroke. ''The TRI will follow a unique, integrated research philosophy to develop novel and affordable therapies for the prevention of cardiovascular disease. It will further provide an opportunity for Indian scientists working abroad to return to be involved in this most exciting research venture.'' Prof Kakkar said the mission was to be the leading international multi-disciplinary organisation, providing excellence in thrombosis research, education and patient care by seeking deeper understanding of molecular pathogenesis of disorders of coagulation to develop new strategies to prevent and treat thrombosis and reduce the cost of healthcare.

Its main objective included developing a simple and cheap test for identifying individuals at high risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease at an early age to allow intervention to prevent long-term disability and early death, undertaking population genetics and gene expression studies in early onset of coronary artery disease in the Indian population to gain a deeper understanding of the inter-relationship between the genetic and environmental risk factors, developing a vaccine against heart disease and stroke and encouraging training in advanced molecular biology of cardiovascular disease through the Institute's joint post-graduate education programme.

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