About Actrec Advanced Centre For Treatment Research And Education In Cancer
The origins of the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) are rooted in the Indian Cancer Research Centre (ICRC), which was established in 1952 in Parel, Mumbai, under the purview of the Ministry of Health, Government of India. In 1966, ICRC was renamed the Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and amalgamated with the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), creating the first comprehensive cancer centre in India - the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), an autonomous grant-in-aid institution of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.
Over the years, as the institute grew in repute and staff strength, with several new disciplines introduced into its repertoire, an acute shortage of space led to the search for a larger campus. The ACTREC project was conceptualized by the DAE in November 1983. During the period 1985-1987, DAE acquired a huge 60 acre plot of land from CIDCO in Navi Mumbai, the newly developing city across the harbour, and it was decided to set up a much larger institute on this campus.
The foundation stone for this campus - the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), located near the foothills of the Sahyadri mountain ranges in Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, was formally laid in May 1997 by Dr. R. Chidambaram, Chairman, AEC and Secretary, DAE. In August 2002, in its 50th year, CRI moved in toto from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai to become the basic research wing of ACTREC, and started functioning from its new premises at Kharghar. In December 2002, CRI celebrated its Golden Jubilee, with the pledge to not remain content with its stature and recognition worldwide as the premier Indian institute conducting research on cancer, but to scale new heights at its ACTREC campus.
Today, ACTREC serves as a new state-of-the-art R&D satellite of TMC and has the specific mandate to function as a national centre for treatment, research and education in cancer. ACTREC, which at present comprises of the basic and clinical research wings and a 50-bed hospital, will carry out mission-oriented research and development on cancers prevalent in the Indian sub-continent, and where there are internationally competitive opportunities, will use state-of-the-art technology in partnership with TMH.