Mumbai: Kasturba Hospital To Get Research Wing On Infectious Diseases

Mumbai: The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) will soon start a research wing on infectious diseases at the civic-run Kasturba Hospital in Chinchpokli.

The facility will prepare healthcare officials and doctors for infectious diseases such as Covid-19 in the future. Dr Daksha Shah, executive health officer, BMC, said the research wing will train cadres to handle various infectious diseases and offer them fellowships.

An MUHS official said the centre will also decide treatment protocols, contributing to standardised and effective approaches to managing diseases.

"There has been a rise in infectious diseases over the decades so the need for a dedicated research wing is acute. Though the Covid-19 pandemic taught us a lot, the research wing will play pivotal role in future," the official said.

Collaborative Effort Of Govt & Medical Body

The BMC will provide the infrastructure for the research wing and MUHS will help with staffing. Experts believe that research on infectious diseases will not only benefit local health officials but also contribute to policy formation and interventions in other cities.

"The focus on research being fulfilling when it contributes to disease control and elimination aligns with the broader goal of the research wing, playing a guiding role in the future," one expert said.

Who Will Lead The Facility?

The research facility will be led by Dr Jayanthi Shastri, former head of BYL Nair Hospital and current head of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) laboratory at Kasturba. Over the past 37 years, Dr Shastri has helped authorities with early warnings or quicker diagnosis of various infectious diseases, from leptospirosis and dengue to HIV and H1N1. With an MBBS degree from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Sevagram, she pursued an MD in clinical microbiology from Sion Hospital, Mumbai.