Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) has won a ₹5-crore grant from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) to set up a Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence (CARE) in Heart Failure.
The Trivandrum Heart Failure Registry in SCTIMST is the first and the only Heart Failure registry in the country and the cohort has now entered the fifth year.
The ICMR grant is for a period of five years, to establish an advanced centre for research in the field of heart failure, a chronic, progressive condition which has been on the increase, due to the increasing incidence of coronary artery disease, diabetes and hypertension.
The project proposal submitted by S. Harikrishnan, Professor of Cardiology, SCTIMST, has proposed the development of a national data base for heart failure and the establishment of a Biobank of heart failure patients, to study genetic, metabolomics and proteomic markers of health outcomes in heart failure patients.
SCTIMST also proposes to study the micro economic and psycho-social impact of heart failure, to develop a quality improvement initiative of task sharing and mHealth or mobile phone -based interventions by trained nurses and family care givers in improving the practice of evidence-based care for the management of heart failure in the country.
It has also been suggested that point-of-care device systems be developed at the Biomedical Technology wing of SCTIMST to aid management of patients with heart failure. A statement issued by Asha Kishore, the Director of SCTIMST, said that the Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence grant was a recognition of the stellar work done by the institute in the field of Cardiology. It will pave the way for testing treatment modifications suited to India and development of newer devices to help heart failure patients.
