“Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine is going to take the stem cells and autologous tissues with regenerative capacity to clinical application. This is not going to invade into any particular specialty of medicine and be a substitute to any prevailing definitive treatment modality. Rather NCRM will equip the clinicians with an additional tool called stem cells in treating various disorders in the most ethical and scientific way, with transparency and adherence to the existing national and international guidelines. The facility in Chennai will coordinate research work between Indian and Japanese institutes, and upon standardizing the treatment protocols train clinicians and researchers in using the same to propagate it all over the country to relieve fellow human beings from pain”

Inauguration of NCRM by unveiling the plaque & lighting Kuthuvilakku & address :

His Excellency Mr Yoshiaki Kodaki, The Consul General of Japan, Chennai.

Over the years there have been several Indo-Japan programmes by Nichi-In and we welcome such activities, as they contribute to promote the understanding between the people of Japan and India. South India has been famous for high standards of medical science, technology and health care services. Japan as well is known for high standards of medical science and technology. So it is quite natural that India and Japan should cooperate in thie field, though lot of efforts is required to make such cooperative work, a success. In this context, I pay my respect to the people who initiated the Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) project and worked hard overcoming difficulties and finally successed in bringing it into realization.

              This project of NCRM is seen as good example of embodying the spirit of the strategic partnership between Japan and India and also seen as a good example of global cooperation at time when the world becomes an entity called global village. I hope the NCRM project would stimulate other people in the medical sector to follow such cooperative projects for the benefit of the citizens of the global village.

              During the visit of the Prime minister of Japan Mr Junichiro Koizumi, the statement entitled “Strategic orientation of Japan-India global partnership in a new asian era” was issued. This emphasizes the importance of the partnership between the two countries and agrees to expand the relations between India and Japan by launching eight fold initiatives.  One of the initiatives is Science and Technology, which includes modern biology, health care, and agriculture. I wish the NCRM all success

Felicitation by Dr K.M Cherian: (Chairman & CEO, Frontier Life Line)

Memory goes back by 12 years, when as a young medical graduate Dr Samuel Abraham came to our hospital before going to Japan to learn some basics about cardiac surgery. I thought it is a brain-drain. But today as he and his team have brought in a cutting edge technology in health care, it is the reversal of a brain-drain. We should thank people like him for bringing such technology to the country. Regenerative Medicine is going to be the future and sooner, hospitals will be called as “Centres for regeneration”. This is the time we should concentrate more in this line of research and bring those benefits for the welfare of the mankind.

Felicitation by Dr C.M Habibullah: (Director, Centre for Liver Diseases, Hyderabad)

There has been a big hype everywhere about the stem cells and cell therapeutics. We are totally confused not only with the newer possibilities but also with the limitations as any new technology needs an in-depth analysis about the pros and cons before it takes the final shape. The major limitation in today’s health care set up in delivering stem cell therapy based treatment is with the process of cell culture. We need animal cells for growing stem cells and controlling their differentiation is a big problem. In this context, I feel that the scientists with NCRM have a very balanced way of evaluating things and their technology of having overcome the above mentioned obstacles in cell culture technique, is definitely going to revolutionize the various treatments using cell therapeutics. I am able to boldly say so because of my association in joint research with them for the past one year, which has given a lot of hopes for liver failure treatment in the near future.

Felicitation by Dr K Ravishankar: (CEO, Sankara Nethralaya)

This could be the first time in India that we are able to have an indigenously developed cell line that too a stem cell line.

Felicitation by Swamiji Satyapriyananda: (Secretary, Vivekananda College)

Though health care is their major area of concern of NCRM, our institute is associated with them in finding ways for developing environmental friendly plastics and to find methods for conserving water in agriculture.

Felicitation by Mr Ramana Reddy: (Trustee, Vijaya Group of Hospitals)

Human beings are their own source of happiness as well as problems. In today’s world, materialistic values have overcome, spiritual values and regeneration of the lost spiritual values is more important than physical regeneration.

In the following scientific session, Dr HN Madhavan (Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai) spoke about the possibilities of treating Corneal disorders with the technology of NCRM. Dr CM Habibullah (Deccan college of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad) presented his data about using polymer based technology for liver failure treatment. Dr Soma Guhathakurtha (Frontier Life Line, Chennai) spoke about possibilities in using stem cells in treating cardiac diseases. Dr Sharat Damodar (Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore) gave a lecture on blood cancers and their need for stem cell treatment using alternative non-biogical substrate based cell expansion. Dr Sivasubramanian (Vivekananda college, Chennai) spoke about polymer technology in environmental health and finally Dr Samuel JK Abraham, presented the possibilities with NCRM technology in treating (i) Corneal disorders, (ii) Liver failure, (iii) Diabetes using patients own stem cells, (iv) Bone fractures without bone graft, (v) Vitiligo using patients own melanocytes.

Vote of thanks was proposed by Ms Caroline Godwin, PRO of NCRM.

Click to see the photographs