Milestone: SSKM Hosp to launch stem cell therapy unit

Kolkata: After its multidisciplinary research unit was recently recognised as a Centre of Research Excellence by the Union Health Ministry, SSKM Hospital is set to add another milestone, with a stem cell therapy unit soon to become operational at the facility.

Sources in the hospital said that a full-fledged stem cell therapy centre, along with a research unit, will be accommodated on the ninth floor of the academic building of the SSKM. The stem cell centre will be set up at an approximate cost of Rs 100 crore, sources said.

The state government has already given clearance for the project. A nine-member expert committee has been constituted with the SSKM director, Dr Manimoy Bandyopadhyay, at its top, which will ensure smooth implementation

of the project.Doctors from various departments, including radiotherapy, microbiology, pathology, oncology, neurology, paediatric haematology, are in the committee.

The multi-disciplinary research unit (MRU) was recognised as the Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) by the Central ministry of health research.

This was among eight medical institutes in the country and the only one in the eastern and northeastern zones to achieve this distinction for its performance and projects. “The recognition would help the institute receive research projects and funding to carry out breakthrough studies. The institute will be granted Rs 3 crore to better research equipment and infrastructure,” a senior official of the hospital stated.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a couple of years ago, had launched India’s first state-owned stem cell preservation centre at the School of Tropical Medicine. A couple of months ago, a complex mismatched stem cell transplant ensured a patient a thalassaemia-free life in NRS Medical College

and Hospital. Stem cell therapy uses stem cells or their derivatives to repair, replace, or regenerate diseased, dysfunctional, or injured tissues.

It involves cultivating stem cells in a lab to specialize into specific cells ~ heart muscle, nerve, or blood cells and then transplanting them into patients to restore function.