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Head and Neck Institute
Chairman: Dr. Moni Abraham Kuriakose
Email: akuriakose@aims.amrita.edu
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Dr Kuriakose did his BDS from the University of Mysore and his MBChB from University of Bristol, UK followed by FRCS (Surgery) from Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and FDSRCS (Oral Surgery) from the Royal College of Surgeons, England. He then joined as a faculty at the State university of New York at Buffalo (1996 -1998) and later at the New York School of Medicine (1999-2003). He has also served as the Director, Head and Neck Oncology Translational Research program, New York School of Medicine (1999-2003). He joined Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences as Professor and Chairman of the Head and Neck Institute in 2003. |
| The Head and Neck Oncology Research programme was initiated under his supervision and set up with an infrastructure development grant from the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE). The current focus of the centre is identifying the molecular mechanisms of oral carcinogenesis and to further devise means for early diagnosis and prognosis. The ongoing projects are funded by various national (CSIR, DBT) and international (NIH) agencies.
A number of projects have hence been initiated at the Head and Neck Institute in an attempt to understand the basic mechanisms involved in oral cancer progression, to identify molecular methods that can be used in early diagnosis and to explore new methods of cure. Towards this effort, 230 paired tissue samples, 120 saliva and 75 lymph node samples have been collected and maintained at the tissue repository. The major projects ongoing in the lab are |
- Salivary transcriptome/proteome as biomarker for early detection and prognosis
In this study, we attempt to profile the expression of a panel of genes, selected from microarray studies conducted in the lab, towards identifying the markers that can be utilized in accurate diagnosis/prognosis of patients with premalignant lesions and those diagnosed with T1/T2 disease.
- Gene Expression Profiling of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Microarray
In accordance with the high predilection of the disease in this part of the world, this study attempts to explore the expression profile of tongue cancer in Indian populations with special reference to recurrent patients from Kerala.
- Identification of cancer initiating cells/stem cells from the oral cancer tissues
Current research is focused on adult stem cells, which could become targets for malignant transformation. This project is an effort towards identifying and characterization of stem-cell like populations exclusive to oral cancer that can in turn help in designing new therapeutic strategies against the disease.
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Important Publictions
- J Kalavathy Elango, Karimassery Ramaiyer Sundaram, Paleth Gangadharan, Pramod Subhash, Sherry Peter, Civy Pulayath, Moni Abraham Kuriakose Factors Affecting Oral Cancer Awareness in a High-risk Population in India Asian Pacific J Cancer Prev, 2009, 10, 1-4
- Trivedi NP, Dhanya KS, Thankappan K, Chatni SS, Kuriakose MA, Iyer S. Comparison of Quality of Life in Advanced Laryngeal Cancer Patients after Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy Vs Total Laryngectomy Otolaryngology and Head & Neck surgery
- Suresh A, Vannan M, K Dhanya, Elango EM, Thangaraj K, Kuriakose MA Identification of a molecular signature for recurrent tongue cancer (Manuscript under preparation)
- Elango JK, Gangadharan P, Sumithra S, Kuriakose MA. Trends of head and neck cancers in urban and rural India. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2006 Jan-Mar; 7 (1):108-12.
- Trivedi NP, Suresh A, Hiran KR, Vannan M, VG Sindhu, Elango EM, Shanmugham, Kuriakose MA Lymphoscintigraphy for evaluation of nodal metastasis in head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (Manuscript under preparation)
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