* Transplantation of melanocytes in vitiligo (leucoderma), the latest treatment for the skin disease afflicting thousands of people worldwide, is now available to Indians. Discovered and perfected by Swedish doctor Mats Olsson, the treatmnt has been hailed as a breakthrough advancement abroad and is based on actually growing pigment-producing cells - melanocytes - in a laboratory and grafting them to affected areas. This is the first time melanocytes have been able to reproduce in laboratories, thus they can be used therapeutically, said Dr Olsson during his visit here. The treatment is now available to Indians at Nobel Clinic in Pune.

Fellowship

* Dr Madhura Swaminathan, a research scholar and associate professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Mumbai has been awarded the first post-doctoral Sir Ratan Tata Fellowship for the current year by the Tata Foundation. Dr Madhura will work on `Food security and the system of public distribution of food in India' beginning October and is expected to complete her research work within six to eight months. She will be based at the Asia Research Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London. The Ratan Tata Foundation set up in 1918 after the death of Sir Ratan Tata, instituted a chair in London school of economics for initiating various research works in social and financial areas.

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