Principal, CMC Ludhiana becomes first recipient of Global Stroke Service Award

Dr. Pandian is reported to have developed the Ludhiana urban population-based stroke registry in the year 2013 and with the Department of Community Medicine at CMC completed the Rural population-based stroke registry two years ago. The above stroke surveillance models are have been implemented by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 5 other regions in India.

"It was a difficult and challenging thing to do and it took two years to design the methodology. We have learned a lot of lessons during the process and have modified the methodology accordingly. We trained the Asha workers to identify the stroke patients in the villages", the professor informed.

Addressing the issue that the rural patients are often unable to reach the hospitals within the right time, Dr. Pandian mentioned that he and his team are trying to develop an app that will be like a register and it can help doctors to upload data and keep track of stroke patients. Moreover, they are also thinking of introducing a mobile stroke Unit in villages on a larger scale so that patients can be provided with the tele-medication and quick consultation.

The recent statement by CMCH also highlighted the other achievements made by the doctors. "He organized the Xth World Stroke Congress in Hyderabad in the year 2016. He also developed a specific model of stroke unit care known as the Tezpur model in a remote hospital in eastern India which is now being replicated through the Organisation of Stroke Care Services in all Income Levels (OSCAIL) as a project in both India and Africa. Even more recently he has been instrumental in implementing India's first Mobile Stroke Unit in a rural area at Baptist Christian Hospital, Tezpur, Assam. This novel project is supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research and was inaugurated by the Honorable Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhanin in the month of September", the statement mentioned.

Appreciating the support from ICMR, the statement by the medical college further added, "With funding support from the Indian Council of Medical Research, he created the first-ever disease network for clinical trials in India named as Indian Stroke Clinical Trial Network (INSTRuCT). This is a network of 31 stroke centers in India and currently, there are two ongoing stroke trials, and 5 more stroke trials have been approved for the year 2021 by ICMR. He has actively worked with World Health Organisation (WHO) Geneva, South East Asian Regional Office (WHO SEARO), New Delhi developing modules in stroke care and been involved in the generation of a document on technology in stroke. Perhaps even more importantly, he has worked, together with colleagues, to make thrombolysis for stroke (tPA) listed in the essential medicine category of the WHO. More recently with WHO SEARO, he is involved in developing stroke care services in Myanmar, Maldives, Bhutan, and Timor Leste."

Pandian has mentored several medical students, residents, and faculty in stroke research. He has published more than 200 scientific papers in several high impact journals. Dr. William Bhatti, Director CMC said that it is a matter of great honor for CMC, Ludhiana, and for the state of Punjab, that he has been conferred this award. He also added that the department of Neurology is the only center in the region to have all the facilities to treat stroke or brain attack.