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Seminar

Cervical cancer screening programme in South India: Progress & Problems

The implementation of a cervical cancer screening programme in South India: Progress and Problems

Abstract:

Cervical cancer is a major killer of women in their most productive ages of life, and mostly prevalent in the Low and Middle Income countries (LMICs). The speaker is a pathologist and has implemented a cost-effective working model of cervical cancer, replicating what worked in western countries - a conventional Pap smear based screening strategy. With laboratories in two locations, one pathologist and visitor-trainers from all over the world, this programme in mostly rural south India has been successful in replicating a high quality screening programme at a low cost. Recently, the PI and his collaborators have also developed technology based diagnostic solutions (Lab in a Chip; 2016) to further improve the methodology. The challenges in screening include mainly social factors (engaging women, failure to follow-up). The lecture will focus on the progress made and the challenges faced, and will include such varied themes as ‘Coca-cola’, ‘Potatoes’ and ‘Pilates’.

Biography:

Dr. Rajan Dewar is a native of Madras (Chennai), India, where he went to attend medical school (Madras Medical College). His PhD was in Biomedical Engineering (IIT, Bombay). His post-graduate training was at UT Southwestern Medical Center (Biomedical Engineering), residency in Pathology (Yale), Genetic & hematopathology fellowships (Stanford). He was a faculty at Harvard Medical School & Harvard Divinity school (2006-2015) before recently (Autumn, 2015) taking a position at the University of Michigan as director of hematology laboratories at the Medical School and affiliate faculty at the Population Science center of the Institute for Social Research (ISR, Michigan). He is currently a visiting fellow with the Department of Global Health and Development, at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Admission

Admission
Free & open to all. Entry is based on a first come, first served basis.