MedGenome has teamed up with Kailash Cancer Hospital and Research Center (KCHRC) to open a molecular genetics laboratory. The facility is located within KCHRC.

The inauguration of the molecular genetics laboratory was followed by a doctor’s meeting organised under the flagship of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Baroda chapter. More than 100 clinicians and geneticists attended the meeting.

Highlighting the importance of utility of genetic screening s in the management of genetic disorders, Dr. Ramprasad, COO, MedGenome said that it helps clinicians in not only proper diagnosis of the disease but also managing the disease with the drugs of choice.

Next generation sequencing technology has drastically reduced cost of genetic screening. The focus is also on large scale genetic studies of an investigative nature, which have the potential to reveal the genetic causative factors of various rare and common diseases and act as guide for the implementation of precision medicine. As an outcome of this new lab, MedGenome’s genetic tests for a range of diseases in cardiology, endocrinology, hematology, neurology, nephrology, oncology, ophthalmology, and paediatrics will be available at Kailash Cancer Hospital and Research Center, he added.

An interactive session on the use of molecular diagnostics in clinical practice then ensued, wherein Dr Rakesh Shah (neurologist), Dr V.C. Chauhan (cardiologist) and Dr. Sheila Aiyer (paediatrician) discussed the pivotal role that genomics could play.

Dr. Purvish Parikh, director of Precision Oncology and Research, Asian Institute of Oncology highlighted the use of liquid biopsy methods in improving the cancer patient outcome. Dr. Arati Khanna-Gupta, VP- R&D, MedGenome (India), gave an overview of the new genetic center detailing the various genetic tests that will be offered at the center and on the logistics of sample collection.

Dr. Ravindra Jain, president, Indian Medical Association (IMA) Vadodara, Dr Chetan Shah, core committee member of Muni Seva Ashram (MSA) Goraj, and Dr. Rajesh Kantharia, medical director, KCHRC, Goraj were also present.