Jagannadha Rao Peela, III, MD Department of Biochemistry Al-Arab Medical University Benghazi, Libya Q.

What made you decide on a career in laboratory medicine? A. I chose MD (Biochemistry), although I had the option to choose other clinical specialties in Andhra Pradesh postgraduate medical entrance, because of my interest in clinical research. Q. With which professional societies/ organizations, other than AACC, are you involved? What are the benefits to you of AACC membership? A. I am a permanent member of the Indian Medical Association, as well as a member of Andhra Pradesh Government Doctors Association, the Biochemical Society of India, and A.P. Bionet (Singapore). I am also a member and Associate Fellow of AACCs National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. I am a member of the All India MD/MS/DNB doctors association. Although I am a member of the above organizations, I am very involved in AACC and have participated in two Annual Meetings and presented five research papers in posters session. One of the major benefits of AACC membership is the Clinical Chemistry journal which has helped to update my knowledge in laboratory medicine. Q. How did you become involved in AACCs membership grants and what advice do you have for anyone wanting to get involved? A. One of my colleagues and I applied for AACC Membership Grants in 2005 and we were both successful and received a 5 year grant. I was selected to receive an International Travel Grant in 2007 to attend AACCs Annual Meeting held in San Diego, CA. Thank you to the Van Slyke foundation for arranging the membership and travel grants. I would advise young scientists from developing countries to apply for these grants Q. What areas of laboratory medicine do you specialize in and what initiated your interest in those areas? A. My area of interest is lipids and lipoproteins and I have done a lot of work in this area. I started working in lipids and lipoproteins straight after post graduation where my dissertation was Lipid Profile in Essential Hypertension. Q. What are some of the most rewarding and/or challenging moments of your career? A. I have had many successes in laboratory medicine. I obtained certification in the National Registry of Certified Chemists and I am eligible to sit the American Board of Clinical Chemistry examination. I am proud to report that I have more than twelve international journal publications out of my research in laboratory medicine.

Q. What do you see as the challenges facing laboratory medicine in your country? A. I started my career in my home country, India, as a clinical biochemist. I have faced many problems in conducting research due to a lack of resources in the government sector. There is need to develop infrastructure and proper funding to conduct proper research. There is lot of scope but poor facilities. Later, I shifted to foreign countries like Saudi Arabia and Libya. I found a lot of encouragement in Libya where I have done a lot of work and published many papers. The main problem in Libya is a lack of qualified personnel in all areas of research. There is a lot of funding and infrastructure but a lack of qualified people to work here. Q. What would recommend that a visitor to your country do or see in the laboratory, and why? A. Laboratory medicine in India is one of the fastest growing branches. If anyone visits corporate hospitals in India, he can find sophisticated equipment and highly skilled personnel. There is a fully fledged MD degree in all branches of laboratory medicine, i.e., MD (Biochemistry), MD (Pathology), and MD (Microbiology), Diploma in Clinical Pathology. These specializations are available in all recognized medical colleges in India and only medical graduates are eligible for these courses. This shows how India is emphasizing laboratory medicine. Earlier many doctors had not shown interest in these specialties because they will lose direct contact with the patient although recently many doctors have shown interest due to the good prospects and their demand in teaching in medical schools. Many foreign universities are unaware that there are MD degrees in these specializations. In many private medical schools they used to fill PhD positions with staff with an MSc background with no medical qualifications. Now, the Medical Council of India has passed an ordinance to fill two thirds of these positions with MD candidates. It would be useful for any foreign visitor or student to come to India as he can learn a lot because there are many personnel to teach these courses. I highly recommend that foreign universities collaborate with Indian universities and learn these courses especially with medical background. Many corporate hospitals are hiring these doctors with advanced equipment. Since there is huge population there is wide spectrum of clinical conditions and gives wide scope to learn. Unfortunately in many foreign countries these medical specialties were categorized as allied medical branches and not been treated as physicians though they were licensed medical practitioners in their homeland. I am happy to say that these branches are recognized as medical specialties in the Middle East and some African countries. Now they are slowly replacing PhD with non medical background with these medical specialties in medical schools. If any foreigner wants to do research, he will find India is the right place because there are many people to guide and lot of scope in any field of medicine. Since the population is huge, he can find lot of data in all fields of medicine.