KARACHI: The country’s first-ever premalignant primary Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) cell line has been established at the Ziauddin University, Karachi.
The cell line was established as a part of an MPhil project of Dr M Shahrukh Khan Sadiq and Dr Anaam Islam. Dr. Saima Akram Butt, Associate Professor, Head of the Ziauddin University Department of Oral Pathology, supervised the project, while Dr Shumaila Usman, Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine, was the co-supervisor and technique expert.
OSMF is a chronic, progressive and premalignant condition of the oral mucosa that vitiates the quality of life of the patient.
The development of the oral submucous cell line would serve as a reliable, safe and convenient in-vitro platform for experimentation for the disease.
The project was also shortlisted for the Hatton Award Oral Presentation Competition at the 8th Pakistan Association of Dental Research Conference and bagged second prize at the 2nd International Conference of Pakistan Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology.
Ziauddin College of Dentistry Principal Prof Dr Mervyn Hosein lauded the efforts of the entire research team for achieving this significant milestone in dental research in Pakistan.
