CeDARC Celebrating the RCPath Achievement Award 2022
The Centre for Diagnosis and Research in Cancer (CeDARC) was awarded the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) achievement award for the year 2022. The RCPath achievement awards 2022 celebrate excellence in service provision through teamwork and were awarded to four selected teams from around the world who have achieved above and beyond what would be expected in the usual course of their work. The award was officially presented to the CeDARC team on 8th September 2022 at the President’s Annual Royal College of Pathologists Dinner held in London.
The CeDARC is a collaborative effort of the Department of Pathology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Human Genetics Unit of the Faculty of Medicine and the Departments of Chemistry and Zoology of the Faculty of Science. It was established with the aim of developing a state-of-the-art referral centre in Sri Lanka, in order to provide a comprehensive cancer diagnostic service and facilitate translational research and capacity building.
Many histopathology laboratories in Sri Lanka are run by a single pathologist, and there is no formal system in place to refer difficult cases. CeDARC fills in this void by giving pathologists all around the nation a formal way to refer to complicated cases. Work at CeDARC commenced in January 2022, led by Professor Chandu de Silva and the staff of the Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine. Through the establishment of CeDARC, the university has thus far procured much-needed equipment including microscopes, a haematology analyzer and an immunohistochemistry-autostainer.
An immunohistochemistry laboratory, with facilities for performing a wide range of tests, some of which are not available elsewhere in the country has been established at the Centre. A formal referral mechanism for peripheral pathologists to discuss complex patients is now in place and the Centre has handled over 710 cases of cancer this year referred from pathologists all around the country. CeDARC has also provided Sri Lankan histopathology trainees with improved training facilities, more exposure to clinical material to support their training and research and a learning environment that demonstrates best practices in pathology.
