Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research (NUCSER) has developed 'The Cancer Gene Database@NitteDU (N-TCAG)' an online catalogue of manually curated germline and somatic mutation information relating to human cancer.
The development of the database is a combined effort of a team of scientists and clinicians at Nitte Deemed to be University and the primary objective of this initiative is to establish a patient database with a sample repository to provide information about the type of mutation/variation in cancer cases encountered in this region.
Dr Anirban Chakraborty, the director of NUCSER, who works on cancer genetics conceptualised this project and is primarily involved in the operation of the database along with Dr Gunimala Chakraborty, an associate professor at NUCSER.
Other clinicians involved are Prof Giridhar BH (HoD, Dept of Pulmonology, KSHEMA), Prof Audrey D’Cruz (HoD, Dept of Public Health Dentistry, ABSMIDS), Dr Rajesh V (Dept of Pulmonology, KSHEMA), Dr Vijith Shetty (Dept of Medical Oncology, KSHEMA) and Dr Vinay Kumar (consultant surgical oncologist, KSHEMA).
The web portal of the database was officially launched by the Vice Chancellor of Nitte Deemed to be University Prof Satheesh Kumar Bhandary through an online event.
On the occasion, he congratulated the team behind this initiative and emphasised how such unique initiatives in health science universities can bring about close collaborations between the clinicians and basic scientists carrying out research related to the biology and genetics of cancer which can become strong foundations for developing novel diagnostics, biomarkers or treatment modalities. The database can be accessed here.