CMC doc wins Gates research Grant:Deccan Chronicle:Chennai 2 May

                                                                                                                            

A doctor attached to Christian Medical College (CMC) hospital in Vellore has been awarded grant worth `44.38 lakh by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to carry out a research on eradication of Polio. He is the only doctor from India to win the award.

Associate Professor of Community Medicine of CMC Hospital Dr Jacob John has been selected fromover 2,500 proposals from around 100 countries, while two other doctors from abroad have also bagged the grant to carry out innovative research to improve the immunity of vaccine against Polio and maternal health.


Expressing happiness for being selected for the award to carry out the research, Dr Jacob John said, “I am honoured to have received this prestigious grant. Polio is a highly contagious and often deadly infection. If I can contribute in any way to preventing this, I will be very satisfied.


“ “My research will be focusing on new strategy to eradicate polio and what needs to done for that. The new strategy is such as giving injectable polio vaccine to children, who already received oral polio vaccine,“ Dr John told this newspaper. He is also the principle investigator of this research.


Dr Nicholas Grassly of Imperial College in London, who is another recipient of this award, would partner him in the research. However, he would work on other organism which would be effective in eradicating polio. The entire research would be carried out in CMC Hospital here.


Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil and Dr Asha Abrahim of CMC Hospital would be roped into the research.


“We will start the research after getting permission from the ethics committee of CMC hospital. It will take a year-and-an half to complete the research,” said Dr John.