The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : High-end equipment for Sankara Nethralaya

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Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

High-end equipment for Sankara Nethralaya

Special Correspondent

Research team
will now be able to use the Bio Analyser to analyse proteins and cells

CHENNAI: Sankara Nethralaya’s cutting-edge research initiatives got a shot in the arm on Monday, with the Cognizant Foundation donating high-end equipment worth Rs. 31 lakh to the ophthalmic tertiary care institution.

With the commissioning of the equipment, Nethralaya’s research team will now be able to use the Bio Analyser to analyse proteins and cells, deploy the Carbon di-Oxide incubator to grow and nurture cell cultures or turn on the deep freezer to minus 80 degrees C. A team of Board members of the Cognizant Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Cognizant, were taken on a guided tour of Nethralaya’s Bajaj Research Institute to acquaint them with the work being carried out at the virology, stem cell, nanobiotechnology, biochemistry and microbiology divisions.

The Cognizant Foundation was represented by its Board members N.R. Krishnan, S. Ramamurthy and S. Madhavan.

They were accompanied by a team led by S. S. Badrinath, Nethralaya’s Chairman Emeritus. H. N. Madhavan, Director of Research, Sankara Nethralaya, said the equipment housed in a new building would serve as a core facility to analyse samples sent in by research-oriented institutions across the country.

S. Krishnakumar at the L&T Ocular Pathology Laboratory, said the equipment would enable researchers to go in for long-term and large-scale storage of biological organisms.

Training to be strengthened

Hospital chairman Lingam Gopal said the facility would also strengthen the research centre’s training of postgraduate researchers from institutions in and around Chennai.

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