The MDRF-ICMR Advanced Centre for Genomics of Type two Diabetes, a joint project of the Chennai based Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) and Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), will be launched by July 30.

The new venture comes as the part of Council's recognition on MDRF as the nodal centre for genomics of type two diabetes research in India. The centre will train scientists in advanced research in genomics pertaining to diabetes, which has been recognized as a disease of national importance by government of India.

The main objectives of the new centre includes training scientific personnel leading to capacity building and development of basic infrastructure to conduct genomic research related to diabetes and associated complications and improving quality of diabetes research by providing shared access to specialized technical resources and expertise in relation to genomics of diabetes, informed Dr V Mohan, President, MDRF in a press conference.

According to Dr M Rema, Vice President, MDRF, the first diabetes centre in the country to be accorded national recognition by ICMR, will propose to look at the association of retinopathy and other compilations of diabetes to certain gene polymorphism in South Indians.

The centre will be inaugurated by Dr N K Ganguly, Director General, ICMR. The MDRF will also release a Nutritional Epidemiology Software, 'Epi-Nu', a unique software which can provide the nutritive value of Indian foods.

The MDRF is a non-profit research centre recognized by central government's Department of Science and Technology. The molecular genetics laboratory at MDRF is engaged in the identification of genes that are involved in diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy and in understanding the regulation and expression of the genes in the target tissues, added Mohan.