IACCGH Hosts Dinner Reception on April 5
IACCGH President Pankaj Dhume with Madam Zuma.
HOUSTON: On Friday April 5, 2013 IACCGH hosted a dinner reception sponsored by the Southside Group in honor of the Indian delegates to the MD Anderson Annual GAP Summit and local MD Anderson faculty at the HESS Club. The guests included Dr. Kian Ang MD PhD, Vice President, Global Academic Programs, MD Anderson Cancer Center, South Africa’s first lady Madam Tobeka Madiba Zuma, IDA Houston President Dr. Kulvinder S. Bajwa and Delhi State Cancer Institute Director Dr. Rakesh Kumar Grover.
From Left: IACCGH Director Harish Katharani, whose business Southside Group sponsored the dinner, with Anil Patel of Southside.
IACCGH President Pankaj Dhume welcomed Madam Zuma and other over 70 guests by reminding them of an important alliance between the MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tata Cancer Institute that was facilitated by the IACCGH ten years ago. Past President of the Chamber, Deepa Thakur walked the audience down memory lane thanking founding Presidents Dr. Durga Agrawal and Ashoke Nath for their efforts that led to the signing of the MOU.
In March 2003 the IACCGH facilitated a visit by a seven member MD Anderson delegation to Mumbai and Delhi. This delegation included MD Anderson Cancer Center President Dr. John Mendelsohn. In the 62 years of MD Anderson’s history this was the first ever visit by its President to India. This delegation met Indian President Kalam and the then Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha.
From Left: Dr Sen Pathak(MDACC), Jagdip Ahluwalia, Delhi State Cancer Institute Director Dr. Rakesh Kumar Grover, and Dr Sewa Singh Lega.
The team visited AIIMS Delhi and participated in a symposium on “Common Cancers in India: Evidence Based Management” at Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH).
On Oct 6 2003, Dr. John Mendelsohn and Dr. K.A. Dinshaw, Director of Tata Memorial Center, Mumbai signed a historic Sister Institution Agreement in Mumbai, India.
Witnessing this historic event were 2003 IACCGH President Deepa Thakur, founding President Durga Agrawal, Past Presidents Ashoke Nath and Ashok Shah, Board Advisor Vijay Goradia, founding member & Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia, then Director-at-large (Pune based) Pankaj Dhume and chamber member Ajit Thakur.
IDA Houston President Dr. Kulvinder S. Bajwa networking at the event.
In the ten years since the signing of the MOU there have been numerous exchanges between MD Anderson Cancer Center and the Tata Memorial Center. Since then, MD Anderson Cancer Center has expanded its relationships with several other centers of excellence in India including the Delhi State Cancer Institute.