Introduction
The Sri Lankan Twin registry established in 1996 is the first ever twin register in South Asia. It is still one the of few large scale functional population based twin registries in developing world
Two main twin cohorts are volunteer and population based. The population based twin register is presently confined to Colombo district; the most populous among the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. It has 9570 twin pairs and 46 triplets (19278 individuals). The volunteer cohort has 7000 twin pairs and 86 triplets (14258 individuals).
It is essential that developing countries create a strong national research infrastructure, so that they can define priorities for health research; influence national, regional and global health agendas and lobby for equitable allocation of resources.
Investment in research capacity would have to be made for the middle to long term and it should be better cordinated and strategically deployed. It should be program based rather than project based and should make a serious commitment towards building local, national and regional institutions. Autonomous research institutes attract funding and reduce the administrative burden.
Vision
To establish a research foundation, which brings together researchers from diverse disciples to carry out research that will elevate the quality of life and achieve heath equity. We will establish a partnership between the researchers and public who should be the ultimate beneficiaries of these research endeavors.
We established the Sri Lankan Twin Registry (SLTR) as a first step towards uniting diverse disciplines and research methods. We believe such an endeavor will contribute to enhance health research capacity in Sri Lanka to achieve health equity.
SLTR is an independent academic and research institution founded with the aim of establishing a register for twins in Sri Lanka, to facilitate study of twins. We aim to establish a centre of excellence for twin, sibling, family studies and genetic studies for the South Asian Region.
We intend to study and raise awareness of the unique challenges and issues faced by the twins, multiples and their families. Based on our research findings, we plan to build services to cater to their needs by working with professionals, statutory services and government policy makers.
Mission
Capacity Building
It is essential that the developing countries create a strong national research infrastructure so that they can define priorities for health research, influence national, regional and global health agendas, and lobby for equitable allocation of resources.
Investment in research capacity would need to be made for the middle to long term, and it should be better coordinated and strategically deployed, should be program based rather than project based, and should make a more serious commitment to building local, national, and regional institutions. Autonomous research institutions attract funding and reduce administrative burden.
We will concentrate on the development of local expertise in the following area.
- Research Methodology including twin method.
- Medical statistics and Statistical genetics.
- Genetic epidemiology .
- Bio-informatics.
- Molecular biology.
- Population genetics and in other allied disciplines.
- Sociological aspects of twins.
- Developmental biology and psychology.
Establishing a genetic lab and service
Genetics is extending beyond the confines of the research laboratory, and being incorporated as a part of primary health care. It behoves every country to enable the benefits of modern genetics research to reach the common man, and thus fulfill the laudable objective of “ health for all”. Public health genetics, the application of advances in genetic science to improve health and prevent disease, is beginning to have an influence. As genetic testing become wide spread, molecular genetics and cyto-genetic laboratories could provide a service similar to chemical pathology, accessed directly by clinicians.
Our aim is to establish a fully equipped genetic laboratory that will be available to other researchers and clinicians in the country without having to send there biological material abroad and thus preserving our genetic heritage and bio-diversity.