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A study that looked at body mass index (BMI) among mostly Medicaid infant patients in Norfolk, Virginia, two years before and one year after the epidemic began discovered a significant increase in BMI.

When these differences were analyzed by gender, the increase was only significant for the female cohort, according to the study, “Examining the Effects of COVID-19 Lifestyle on Pediatric BMI.” There was an 11% mean increase in the BMI of girls, the study found. The authors also observed there was a significant correlation between screen time and family time increases during the pandemic and rising pediatric BMIs, as families spent more time at home because of the lockdowns.

Data was collected from 238 patients (51% female-identifying, 49% male-identifying, and the majority were African-American/Black) with an average age of 9.47 for females and 9.57 for males. Pediatric patients and their parents/guardians were given a questionnaire that examined six potential sources for lifestyle changes that could affect BMI, including fast food intake, time spent with electronic devices, and children’s activity levels.

Dr. John Harrington, one of the senior authors of this study and the division director of General Academic Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia, said the study shows how difficult the lockdowns were on families as parents worried about their children being outside and around others, children missed out on physical education classes and team sports at school, and more time was spent scrolling social media and playing video games.

“This study reinforces that the health of all communities was negatively impacted by the pandemic, especially lower income and predominantly African-American communities,” he said.

According to the authors, this study adds to our understanding of what factors influence children’s BMI. This study, the authors write, can help health care providers develop approaches to steer their patients toward healthier lifestyle choices in an increasingly computerised world by pinpointing the elements that are most strongly connected with a rise in BMI. Greater resources are also required in communities with high poverty rates, limited access to open spaces, and few options for purchasing healthy produce, according to the authors.

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On Saturday, a health expert from the Standing National Committee stated that there are various “missing links” that need to be investigated in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assertion of over 66 deaths caused by Maiden Pharma Ltd cough and cold syrup.

“The first death was reported in July but WHO informed the regulator in India on September 29. The Indian government has not received a complete causality assessment. Out of the 23 samples tested, four were found to contain diethylene glycol/ethylene glycol. The missing links must be probed,” Dr YK Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Standing National Committee told ANI. He further said that any country that imports drugs should first get them tested as per the defined standards, which are missing in this case.

“When the drug is exported, it is tested and a certificate of analysis is issued and the importing country also gets it tested as per the defined standards or their Pharmacopeia. It seems this was somehow missed,” he said.

“Medicines produced in India are now known for their quality in the international market and it would be wrong to question their quality because of just one incident. Our regulatory body is strong and we have zero tolerance for all this,” Dr YK Gupta said.

“The new drugs are approved by a central authority- the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) or Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). However, the drugs- which are already approved and are present in the market have a manufacturing license and a production license issued by the state drug controller. And hence, it falls into the purview of a state controller,” he added.

Gupta further emphasized on public awareness regarding the license availability for the exported medicinal drugs. “Cough syrups sold in India don’t have this possibility,” Dr Gupta said.

Dr Gupta later stressed that without the completion of the investigation, casting a bad image of the entire drug manufacturer in India should be avoided, “Isolated such incidence must be thoroughly investigated and corrective steps should be taken. However, such isolated incidence must not be generalized and allowed to cast a bad shadow on the entire Drug manufacturer in India. So caution, via the means of thorough investigation, corrective action, and tough disciplinary action against the guilty without panicking and maintaining faith while exhibiting pride in country-made drugs,” he said.

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A new bandage treatment, known as a scaffold, to treat diabetic foot ulcers, which is cost-effective while improving patient outcomes, has been designed by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast.

Produced by 3D bioprinting, the scaffolds slowly release antibiotics over a four-week period to effectively treat the wound. The study was published in the journal Drug Delivery and Translational Research. Diabetes, a lifelong condition that causes a person’s blood sugar level to become too high, is among the top ten causes of deaths worldwide.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), is a serious complication of diabetes, affecting approximately 25% of diabetic patients. When identified, over 50 per cent are already infected and over 70 per cent of cases result in lower limb amputation.

The treatment strategy required for the effective healing of DFU is a complex process that requires several combined therapeutic approaches. As a result, there is a significant clinical and economic burden associated with treating DFU.

These treatments are often unsuccessful, which leads to lower-limb amputation.

This new research demonstrates outcomes with significant implications for patient quality of life, as well as decreasing the costs and clinical burden in treating DFU.

Recent research has focused on drug-loaded scaffolds to treat DFU. The scaffold structure is a novel carrier for cell and drug delivery that enhances wound healing.

The research, published in Springer Link, will be presented by Professor Lamprou at the Controlled Release Society (CRS) Workshop Italy (7 – 9 October).

Professor Dimitrios Lamprou, a Professor of Biofabrication and Advanced Manufacturing at Queen’s School of Pharmacy and corresponding author, explains: “These scaffolds are like windows that enable doctors to monitor the healing constantly. This avoids needing to remove them constantly, which can provoke infection and delay the healing process.

“The ‘frame’ has an antibiotic that helps to ‘kill’ the bacteria infection, and the ‘glass’ that can be prepared by collagen/sodium alginate can contain a growth factor to encourage cell growth. The scaffold has two molecular layers that both play an important role in healing the wound.”

Lead author Ms Katie Glover, from the Queen’s School of Pharmacy, concludes: “Using bioprinting technology, we have developed a scaffold with suitable mechanical properties to treat the wound, which can be easily modified to the size of the wound.”

Glover added, “This provides a low-cost alternative to current DFU treatments, which could revolutionise DFU treatment, improving patient outcomes while reducing the economic burden caused by rapidly increasing patient demand as the number of people with diabetes continues to increase every year.”

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Researchers have devised a screening tool for identifying new therapeutic targets for cancer treatment in the genome’s so-called “Dark Matter.” They applied their strategy to non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common cancer killer for which better treatments are desperately needed. They may be able to demonstrate that suppressing identified targets can significantly limit cancer growth, and their strategy is transferable to other tumours.

For new targets, they looked at the poorly-understood class of genes called “long noncoding RNAs (Ribonucleic acids)” (lncRNAs). LncRNAs exist in abundance in the so-called “Dark Matter” or non-protein-coding DNA that constitutes the vast majority of our genome.

The human genome contains around 20,000 “classical” protein-coding genes, but this number is dwarfed by 100,000 lncRNAs. Of 99% of lncRNAs the biological functions are unknown. As the name long noncoding RNAs implies, unlike messenger RNAs (mRNAs), they do not encode the construction plans for proteins. Like for mRNAs, the building instructions for lncRNAs are contained in the cell’s DNA.

To study the role of lncRNAs in NSCLC, the researchers started by analyzing publicly available datasets to see which lncRNAs are present in NSCLC. This analysis led to a list of over 800 lnRNAs, whose importance for NSCLC cells the researchers wished to investigate. For this investigation, they developed a screening system which prevents the production of the selected lncRNAs by deleting part of their construction instructions in the DNA.

They applied their screening system to two NSCLC cell lines derived from patients, and looked how the inhibition of the selected lncRNAs affected so called “hallmarks” of cancer cells. Hallmarks are cellular behaviors that contribute to disease progression: Proliferation, metastasis formation and therapy resistance.

“The advantage of assessing three different cancer hallmarks is that we have a comprehensive view but also have substantial amounts of data from different experiments, from which we needed to derive a single list of long noncoding RNAS that are important for non-small cell lung cancer,” says Rory Johnson, Assistant Professor at the University of Bern, who led the NCCR RNA & Disease funded project. The analysis yielded in the end a list of 80 high-confidence candidate lncRNAs important for NSCLC out of the over 800 investigated. From these 80, the researchers picked out several lncRNAs for follow up experiments.

For these follow up experiments an approach was used, which does not work at the DNA level but targets lncRNAs after their production. For this purpose, the researchers used small chemically-synthesized RNAs called Antisense Oligonucleotides (ASOs), which bind to the lncRNAs they target and lead to their degradation. Of note, several ASOs are approved for treating human diseases, although none yet for cancer.

These follow up experiments showed that, for the majority of the picked lnRNAs, their destruction by an ASO inhibited cancer cell division in cell culture. Importantly, the same treatment produced little if any effect on non-cancerous lung cells, which should not be harmed by the cancer treatment.

In a 3-dimensional model of NSCLC, which more closely resembles the tumor than cell culture, the inhibition of a single lncRNA with an ASO reduced the tumor growth by more than half. “We were positively surprised to see how well the antisense oligonucleotides could restrain tumor growth in different models,” states Taisia Polidori, co-first author, who worked on the project as part of her doctoral thesis research at the University of Bern.

The researchers are continuing their research in pre-clinical cancer models and are considering collaborating with existing companies or creating a startup in order to develop a drug to treat patients. Regarding other cancers, Roberta Esposito, co-first author and postdoc at the University of Bern: “Like a telescope that can be quite easily repositioned to study a different part of space, our approach should be easily adaptable to reveal new potential treatment types for other cancer types.”

Dr. Esposito will now apply the “telescope” to identify new targets for colorectal cancer. For this purpose, she has received funding by the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern donated by the Beactrice Ederer-Weber foundation.

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Dr. Joseph A Ladapo, Surgeon General of Florida, advised against obtaining mRNA COVID-19 vaccines on Saturday (local time), citing an increased risk of cardiac-related death.

“Today, we published an analysis on COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations that the public should be aware of.” This study discovered an elevated risk of cardiac-related death in men aged 18 to 39. FL will not be mute on the truth, according to Ladapo.

The Florida Department of Health (Department) conducted an analysis through a self-controlled case series, which is a technique originally developed to evaluate vaccine safety. This studied mortality risk following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

This analysis found an 84 per cent increase in the relative incidence of cardiac-related death among males 18-39 years old within 28 days following mRNA vaccination, read an advisory of Florida Health, signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Ladapo.

It further advised individuals with pre-existing cardiac conditions, such as myocarditis and pericarditis, to take particular caution when considering vaccination and discuss it with their healthcare provider.

With a high level of global immunity to COVID-19, the benefit of vaccination is likely outweighed by this abnormally high risk of cardiac-related death among men in this age group. Non-mRNA vaccines were not found to have these increased risks, read the Florida Department of Health Bulletin.

“Studying the safety and efficacy of any medications, including vaccines, is an important component of public health,” said Surgeon General Dr Joseph Ladapo.

“Far less attention has been paid to safety and the concerns of many individuals have been dismissed – these are important findings that should be communicated to Floridians,” added Ladapo.

Meanwhile, India’s first mRNA Covid-19 vaccine is likely to be available soon. The Drugs controller general of India (DCGI) is expected to give Emergency Use Authorisation to Gennova’s mRNA vaccine soon.

The company has conducted phase 2 and phase 3 data trials on 4000 participants to evaluate vaccine safety, immunogenicity and tolerability.

The vaccine – GEMCOVAC-19 – is the country’s first homegrown mRNA COVID- 19 vaccine.

According to officials at Gennova, the trial data showed that the vaccine was safe and well-tolerated. Immunogenicity measured at 2 weeks post-dose showed that GEMCOVAC-19 is non-inferior to Covishield.

The two-dose vaccine will have to be administered intramuscularly, 28 days apart.

As the Covid-19 pandemic spread, an mRNA vaccine candidate was the first to enter human trials globally. The first two vaccines that were made available for use in the US were based on mRNA technology.

Unlike vaccines that put a weakened or inactivated virus in your body to activate an immune response, these two Covid-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) used messenger RNA or mRNA to deliver a message to your immune system.

Essentially, the method use genetically modified mRNA to direct cells to produce the S-protein present on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. According to the Mayo Clinic in the United States, after vaccination, muscle cells begin producing S-protein fragments and displaying them on cell surfaces. As a result, the body produces antibodies.

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The Central Government called news reports suggesting flaws in National Health Accounts (NHA) and a reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure “misleading and wrong” on Friday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, “The news report suggesting inaccuracies in National Health Accounts (NHA) especially out-of-pocket expenditure reduction claim is misleading and incorrect. National Health Accounts (NHA) provide detailed information on expenditures incurred within the health sector of the country. These estimates are crucial as they are not only a reflection of the existing health system of the country but also enable the government to monitor the progress made in different health financing indicators.”

“The recent NHA estimates (2018-19) show a substantial reduction in out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE), reaffirming the government’s commitment towards easing the citizens’ financial burden. Calling this data, a “mirage” by one expert of health economics working in a private Indian University and quoted in certain sections of media, is devoid of justification and rational basis,” it said further.

It further said that the main source of information for OOPE was based on NSO data of 2017-18 whereas the previous estimates were based on 2014.

“Both the surveys of the 71st and 75th rounds use the same sampling design for the selection of households so that it ensures comparability of both the rounds,” the government said.

Moreover, the 2017-18 data was a one-year survey whereas 2014 was done over a period of six months.

“Given that seasonality plays an important role, the 2017-18 survey was definitely more robust than the previous survey. And, while the same experts had unequivocally accepted the 2014 data, their assessment of 2017-18 as “doubtful” is truly arbitrary,” it said.

The government said that criticism is based on flawed juxtaposition and selective picking of data to further their specious argument. Formulations like, “seems problematic/seems unlikely” as the basis of a claim, is nothing if not hypothetical disagreement.

The increase in the utilisation of government health facilities has been another important aspect of NSO 2017-18. A study by Muraleedharan et al. (2020) published in the reputed Economic and Political Weekly on these NSS rounds also observes a decline in OOPE in 2017-18.

The Ministry said, “They observe this decline is driven by an increase in the use of public facilities for outpatient and inpatient services between the two NSS rounds. They also find that not only has the utilisation of public facilities increased but there has also been a decline in average OOPE in public facilities. The available evidence of NSS also shows increasing trend in utilisation of government health facilities.”

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A State Cabinet meeting today, presided over by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, approved the drafting of an MOU between the State Government and the Central Government to establish AIIMS as the Apex Body for Medical Education and Research.

AIIMS will also serve as a Nodal Institution for providing specialty and superspeciality levels of health care, as a Training Center for Doctors, Nurses, and Health Workers, as a provider of Medical and Para Medical courses at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels, as well as a venue for International and National level Conferences, and as a place for achieving excellence in the medical field.

According to the official statement, the Cabinet decided to upgrade Government High Schools Kholi, Thakurdwara and Bandal in Kangra district and Government High Schools Chong and Shat in Kullu to Government Senior Secondary Schools and Government Middle schools Tandi, Pashi, Tinder and Mashna in Kullu district, GMS Dhamer in Kangra district and Government Middle School Devidarh in Mandi district to Government High schools. Moreover, it also decided to upgrade Government Primary Schools Okhali, Tikki and Bharechinal in Mandi district to Government Middle Schools along with creation and filling up to requisite posts.

It also decided to start Science and Commerce classes in Government Senior Secondary Schools Birta and Bohar Kawalu in Kangra district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts and gave the approval to start commerce and Maths classes in GSSS Shiah in the Kullu district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts, as per the official statement.

The Cabinet decided to start Science classes in GSSS Bhatkidhar in the Mandi district along with the creation and filling of requisite posts and also gave its nod to upgrade Government Primary School Godigad to Government Middle School and Government Middle School Nalhach in Kullu district to Government High School along with creation and filling up of requisite posts.

Further, the cabinet decided to upgrade Government Primary School Bassi under Education Block Bagsaid in Mandi district to Government Central Primary School.

The Cabinet gave its approval to again start Government Primary School Mangan in Mandi district to facilitate the students of the area. It gave the approval to upgrade Government Primary Schools Shillibagi and Daran in Mandi district to Government Middle Schools along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

Approval to open a new Veterinary Dispensary at Kotaseri in Kullu district to facilitate farmers of the area and to upgrade the Veterinary Dispensary Dummi in Kasumpati Vidhan Sabha area in Shimla district to a Veterinary Hospital along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts was decided.

It decided to open a new Police Station at Balichowki in Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of 34 posts of different categories to man this newly opened Police Station and to create one additional post of Medical Officer in Community Health Centre Lapyana in Kangra district.

The Cabinet gave its approval to open a new Developmental Block Office at Bathri in Chamba district along with the creation and filling up of 7 posts of different categories. It approved the revision of the Pay structure for the existing regular teaching faculty and librarians working in degree-level technical institutions in the state as per All India Council for Technical Educations norms. The revised pay scale would be given from the prospective date and arrears from 1.1.2016 to date would be paid as per State Government orders.

The Cabinet granted permission for relaxation in the sloping roof from 2.7 meters to 6 meters i.e. 3.25 meters for the proposed building of a bus stand at Dhalli in Shimla district.

It approved the re-starting of Government Degree College Narag in Sirmaur district to facilitate the students of the area.

The Cabinet gave its approval to open a new ITI at Deha in the Chopal Vidhan Sabha area of Shimla district along with the creation and filling up of 26 posts of different categories to man this institution.

The Cabinet gave its approval to open a new Degree College at Pangna in Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts of different categories, besides making a provision of Rs. 5 crores for the development of infrastructure.

It gave the approval to create 3 posts of Superintendent Gr-1 and upgrade 7 posts of Superintendent Gr-1 as a personal measure from the post of Superintendent Gr-II in the Forest department.

It approved the creation of 7 Patwar Circles viz Mathal, Sanrli, Manola, Kandi-3, Bhenra, Navidhar and Kuther in Karsog tehsil in Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

It decided to create 3 new Patwar Circles at Kotla-Khunla, Kharsi and Jharad in Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

The Cabinet gave the approval to open a new Tehsil at Naggar in Kullu district along with the creation and filling of 15 posts of different categories.

It gave consent to create a new Patwar Circle at Gathu under Sub-Tehsil Nither in Kullu district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

It also gave the approval to create a new Patwar Circle Karadsu under Tehsil Kullu of Kullu district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

The Cabinet decided to open a new Sub-Tehsil at Ashla under Tehsil Karsog in Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of 12 posts of different categories.

It decided to create Kanungo Circle Majothi in Chachyot Tehsil of Mandi district along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

It decided to fill up four posts of Company Commander in the Home Guard and Civil Defense department through direct recruitment on a Contract basis.

It decided to give NOC to Vivekanand Medical Research Trust Palampur for 40 seats of BSc Nursing.

The Cabinet decided to upgrade Government High Schools Khagna, Jorna and Annadale in Shimla district to Government Senior Secondary Schools and Government High Schools Gahang, Paplotu, Garlog, Riyagri, Siun, Babli and Chhanyara in Mandi district to Government Senior Secondary Schools, upgradation of Government Middle School Antrwali in Shimla district to Government High School and Government Middle Schools Sarhi, Bhanera, Kheel, Panjan, Futakhal, Dugrain, Devidarh, Dhaban, Purana Bazar Karsog, Mehran, Kharkan, Anah and Sumni Dhar in Mandi district to Government High Schools along with creation and filling up of 164 posts of different categories.

It decided to rename GSSS Maloh in Mandi district as Shaheed Deenanath Government Senior Secondary School Maloh as a mark of respect to the martyr.

It approved the opening of a new Jal Shakti Sub-Division at Naggar under Jal Shakti Division Katrain in the Manali Vidhan Sabha area of the Kullu district.

It decided to upgrade Government High School Dibber to GSSS and Government Middle Schools Leu Kuffer and Dhaneshwar in Sirmaur district to Government High Schools along with the creation and filling up of 26 posts of different categories.

The Cabinet decided to engage/re-engage services of 40 PTA (GIA-provided teachers who were engaged/re-engaged after 3.01.2018 i.e. after the closer of PTA Policy who fulfils the requisite qualification as per R&P Rules by extending the PTA Policy/Rules 2006 from prospective effect.

It approved the creation and filling of up to 29 posts of Accountants in 29 Municipal Councils of the State and create and fill 9 posts of Assistant Engineers in 9 Municipal Councils viz Rampur, Rohru, Bilaspur, Baddi, Hamirpur, Nahan, Sundernagar, Kangra and Nurpur.

The Cabinet approved the upgradation of Community Health Centre Nalagarh to 200 bedded Health Institution along with the creation and filling up of requisite posts.

It also gave its nod to reconstitute the Kasauli planning area and exclude some areas from the Kasauli planning area and include them in the Special Areas Development Authority, Jabli for ensuring the planned development of these areas.

The cabinet decided to open a new Ayurvedic health centre at Tadan in the Dharampur Vidhan sabha area of Mandi district.

It decided to open eight 50 bedded Critical Care Blocks at RPGMC Tanda, SLBSGMC Mandi, RKGMC Hamirpur, AIMS Chamiyana Shimla, Regional Hospital UNA Regional Hospital Solan, JLNGMC Chamba, and Civil Hospital Manali and three District Integrated Public Health Labs at Zonal Hospital Dharamshala, DDU Zonal Hospital Shimla and Zonal Hospital Mandi under PM Ayishman Bharat Infrastructure Mission.

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According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the National Health Authority (NHA) is conducting a pilot for faster OPD registration service at the new OPD block of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and Smt. Sucheta Kriplani Hospital (SSKH) in New Delhi under its flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).

According to a press release from the Ministry, this service allows old and new patients to simply scan a QR Code and exchange their demographic facts with the hospital, such as name, father name, age, gender, address, mobile number, and so on.

This helps to reduce the time taken at the OPD registration counter, provides accurate data in the hospital record and, most importantly, avoids the wait in the long queues. The service is planned to be extended to other health facilities and departments soon, added the statement.

The QR Code-based OPD registration service allows the patients to scan the hospital’s unique QR Code with their mobile phone (using phone camera/scanner/ABHA App/Arogya Setu App/or any other ABDM enabled App) and share their profile details with the hospital. Once the profile is shared, the hospital provides a token number (queue number).

The token generated is sent as a notification to the patient’s selected app and is also displayed on the screens placed at the OPD registration counters for the ease of patients. As per their token number, the patient can go to the registration counter and directly collect their outpatient slip (OP Slip) for doctor consultation as their details are already present at the registration counter.

Talking about the benefits of this service, Dr. R.S. Sharma, CEO, of NHA said – “Under the ABDM, we’re using technology to simplify processes and make healthcare more efficient. The QR Code-based rapid OPD registration service is a step in this direction. It helped over 2200 patients avoid the hustle of long queues with considerably reduced waiting time and minimal time at the registration counter within 15 days of this pilot in LHMC & SSKH.

Direct profile sharing has also helped achieve a higher level of accuracy in patient records. Our team is working with other health facilities and departments to extend this service and help more patients.”

The ABDM team worked closely with the team of LHMC/ SSKH to set up the QR Code-based faster registration service for their OPD block. Appropriate messaging and kiosk were put up to significantly reduce the waiting time for patients. Further, to assist the patients, support personnel were also posted to help them understand the steps and benefits of using this service.

The team also helped the patients create their Ayushman Bharat Health Account or ABHA numbers that shall help them in digitizing their health records. These services will now be extended to more health facilities like hospitals, clinics, diagnostic labs etc. to help patients save time and effort.

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Dr Dangs Lab has won the coveted Prof. SK Joshi National Award for Laboratory Excellence in the area of medical laboratories.

The award ceremony, held in New Delhi on Thursday, coincided with the Quality Council of India’s silver jubilee celebrations (QCI).

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Navin Dang, Founder and Director of Dr Dangs Lab, stated that adhering to the highest worldwide standards, an unwavering devotion, and a team with a laser-like concentration on patient happiness were the primary reasons for the lab’s success.

“It means the world to me, it is recognition of my last four decades of hard work which totally focused on quality, focused on passion, commitment and patient Centricity. To get recognition after so many years is surely an honour which I will cherish throughout my life,” Dr Navin Dang told ANI.

He thanked the QCI for conceptualizing the award and said that such recognitions would play a critical role in exhibiting the highest levels of standards in diagnostics throughout the country.

Expressing her delight, Dr Manju Dang, the co-founder and Director of Dr Dangs Lab said, “The award is definitely the final result of 40 years of commitment to our patients. But it is also the beginning of another phase in our life where we want to after the encouragement, we want to maintain it even higher.”

Dr Arjun Dang, CEO of Dr Dangs Lab said that he lauds the exemplary work ethics exhibited by each team member, and dedicated the award to them.

He shared that he felt humbled by Dr Dangs Lab receiving the honour and thanked the patients, medical fraternity, academic institutes, healthcare organizations and clinical trial associates for their faith and trust.

Dr Dangs Lab, in its four decades of existence, has achieved excellence in laboratory diagnostics through its ideals of ensuring quality, competence, personalized service, and high ethical standards. Started in 1983 by Dr Manju and Dr Navin Dang, the lab today stands further empowered with the joining of Dr Manavi and Dr Arjun Dang.

Prof. SK Joshi award is named after the late Professor SK Joshi, who was a luminary in the field of Science and Academia.

Prof. Joshi made a significant contribution in improving scientific research in India by serving as President of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Director of the National Physical Laboratory of India (NPL) and Chairman of National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

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