Excelsior Correspondent
The Biochemistry Department of the Government Medical College Jammu planned to establish screening centre for newly born babies in the SMGS Hospital Jammu to detect the errors of inborn metabolism at the earliest possible time.
“At present there is no facility to detect the metabolic errors in newly born babies. It is a maiden area which needs to be worked out as it will help in preventing various disorders including mental retardation in the coming generation and will go a long way to have healthy citizens of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” Head of Department, Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Jammu, Dr Amarjit S. Bhatia told the Excelsior in an interview;
After becoming the HoD of Biochemistry Department in the HMS Jammu, Dr Bhatia influenced various Administrative Heads and installed Electrochemiluminous technique for doing Biochemical & Immunological investigations for the poor patients visiting the Government hospital and who could not afford the costly investigations from the private corporate laboratories.
Dr Bhatia slowly introduced more than 50 new investigations in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Govt. Medical College Jammu and became the first person to introduce detection of cancer markers in blood like PSA for prostate cancer, CA125 for ovarian cancer affecting females, CEA for intestinal cancer, Vitamin D level in blood, Vitamin B12, Sex Harmone estimation, Hormone estimation, fertility profile and Iron Studies along with HbA1C many more.
In the year 2016, Dr Bhatia organized an `International Conference on Emerging Trends in Biomedical Research’ in Govt. Medical College Jammu, in which eminent scientists from across the country participated which included Prof. Hari S Sharma and Professor Elizabeth from Holland and Prof. Abbas Ali Mehdi and Prof. Venkatesh, the Lead Man of the Country, who worked tirelessly to get lead free petrol in the country.
Dr Bhatia was selected as Vice-President of Indian Academy of Biomedical Sciences during the conference. In the International Conference, an idea of establishing a laboratory to detect levels of heavy metal lead in human blood struck to his mind and took up the matter with the Indian Society of lead awareness & toxicity.
He invited the members of INSLAR to visit his Department and after completing all the requisites guidelines, was succeeded in getting Department of Biochemistry recognized as National Referral Centre of Lead Toxicity and poisoning; the work for procuring the equipment is going with the concerned agencies.
Meanwhile, J&K Government enacted J&K State Paramedical & Nursing Council and Dr Bhatia was appointed as Controller Examination to bring the system on the track. It was a general complaint of the Paramedical Students & Colleges that the examinations were not being held in time to time and thereby students were losing precious year of their life, Dr Bhatia worked out a total transparent system and got involved Director School Education and his machinery for conducting the exams and was successful in streamlining the derailed examination system with his innovative ideas and transparent approach and since then has successfully conducted examination of more than sixty thousand during last five years.
Dr Bhatia Graduated as a Medical student from Government Medical College Jammu and during his student period he remained Editor of College Magazine, the Beginner and won Gold Prize for securing Ist Position in the subject of Ophthalmology.
He was also awarded with National Certificate for academic excellence by Govt. of India in the year 1984. After completing his graduation (M.B.B.S) from Govt Medical College Jammu, he did his MD in Clinical Biochemistry from the prestigious Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram under the overall guidance of supervision of Professor B.C Harinath, Director Jamana Lal Bajaj Centre of Tropical Diseases, Maharashtra. He thus became the first faculty member of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir to acquire the MD degree of Clinical Biochemistry.
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