Research is an integral part of any major academic institution for its contribution to mankind.MCC is being developed as a premier Research and academic organization with four major research subdivisions
- Clinical Research: Various treatment modalities, drugs, techniques in surgery and radiotherapy and palliative medicine are utilized to identify better treatment option in a given condition.
- Epidemiological Research: This is basically performed in community level or in the cancer registry data
- Translational Research: This is a laboratory research where various molecular changes are studied
- Research on development of Drugs, Equipments and Technology: This area is mainly a collaborative effort.
Research in Malabar Cancer Centre is conducted while maintaining the highest ethical and scientific standards. Malabar Cancer Centre engages in cutting edge clinical research in major oncological disciplines and emphasizes Interdisciplinary research. The institute has memoranda of understanding with several governmental organiziations so that their expertise can be used in clinical research.
In order to ensure that research is conducted under the most stringent conditions the Institute has an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and a Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB).The Institutional Review Board is responsible for overseeing the scientific and ethical issues associated with any research conducted in the Institute. The IRB is made of two seperate bodies : The Scientific Review Committee (SRC) and the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC). Both these bodies are constituted as per the guidelines provided by the ICMR for conducting biomedical research. The SRC meets twice in every month (2nd and 4th Saturday) and/or as and when required. SRC is tasked with reviewing the scientific merit of any new research proposal. All research proposals have to be submitted by the first week of every month so that it can be reviewed by the SRC. The SRC reviews the proposed scientific study and gives recommendations the scientific merit and methodology adopted in the study. Once studies have been approved by the SRC they are submitted to the IEC for ethical approval, if any.
The IEC meets once in every two months and/or as and when required. The IRB is constituted by members from various disciplines and examines each research proposal for ethical issues. This is done to ensure that the ethical guidelines behind medical research as outlined by the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guidelines of India are not violated during the conduct, analysis and publication ofthe study. A study proposal can start only after the IRB final approval has been obtained.
1. ICMR Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants
2. ICMR Guidelines for international collaboration
3. ICMR Guidelines for SOP for IEC
