Our 24th Annual Charity and Awards Nite was held on Wednesday, 25th January 2017 at 5.45 pm at Hotel Savera, RK Salai, Chennai.For the past Eight years we have used this special night as a platform to recognise and appreciate the efforts of professionals working tirelessly to improve the lives of people, especially the underprivileged with kidney disease. 

The programme began with The Mrs. Malathi Venkatesan TANKER Foundation Memorial Lecture by Dr.  Shuvo Roy, Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Co-inventor of implantable artificial kidney. His talk was on “Kidney Regeneration for the Public. How soon will it become a reality”. 


He spoke about the research that is being done by him and his team about making the implantable kidney very similar to the pace maker using silicon chips and cell membrane from a healthy kidney which would replace the role of the kidneys-remove excess waste material,excess water,maintain blood pressure and carry out all the functions of a normal kidney.With safety tests and efficacy tests which would be carried,he felt that it would become a reality by the end of the decade.  

This was be followed at 7.15 pm by the presentation of the following Awards:
·         The K. V. George Kottukulam Memorial TANKER & Kerala Kidney Research Foundation Young Investigator Award for outstanding research done in the field of Nephrology in India was awarded to Dr. Pavan Kumar Rao for his research into Use of Ulinastatin in Renal Failure Patients Developing Sepsis. The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 2,00,000/- a citation and a gold medallion.

• The Renny Abraham TANKER Foundation Love for Service Award for a medical doctor who has gone beyond the call of duty in serving the underprivileged was awarded to Dr. Kousalya Devi, called the “Mother Teresa of South India” by everyone in the southern part of Tamilnadu.  The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion.
• The La Renon TANKER Foundation For the Sake of Honour Award given to an individual who has done exemplary work in his or her field was awarded to Dr.  Shuvo Roy , Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, Co-inventor of the implantable artificial kidney.  The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion. 
• The La Renon TANKER Foundation Lifetime Achievement Awards given to an individual who has done exemplary work in his or her field was awarded to Dr. Kirpalani (Mumbai) and Dr. I. B. Sinha (Patna).  The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion each.
• The K. Venkatanarayana TANKER Foundation Awareness Award given to an individual for creating awareness of any disease, mental, physical and social was awarded to Dr.  Vijayaraghavan, who has created awareness and promoted the change of lifestyle and diet for reversing diabetes through his Intensive Dietary Approach Program (IDAP). The award carried a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000/-, a citation and a gold medallion.
• The Ashok Sankaralingam TANKER Foundation Patient Endowment - One year dialysis support was given for 3 under privileged deserving patient with kidney failure Rs. 1,00,000/-.

Our Chief Guest Dr. Soumya Swaminathan Secretary, Department of Health Research - Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, and Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research presented the awards.She spoke on the occasion and said that reseach was very important to find solutions for various health issues and said that the ICMR was collaborating with the various IITs for this.She also encouraged start ups to invest into making the artificial kidney a reality. Mrs.Latha Kumaraswami gave an update of TANKER's activities.TANKER had provided almost 2 lakh dialysis and given over Rs.1.75 crores as financial support for the needy. TANKER was very thankful to the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme which has given access to free long term dialysis to thousands of underprivileged patients.Dr.Georgi welcomed the gathering and emphasised that research was of great importance to find long term solutions for kidney disease.
There was a brilliant dance performance by students of “Avvai Kapagam” teaching differently abled children lead a life of dignity and independence followed by games, prizes and dinner. We thank all our well wishers, sponsors and donors especially Mrs. Nina Reddy for sponsoring the dinner at Savera Hotel.