This will be the first department of its kind in the South and second in the country after Lucknow.
The Union Minister for Science and Technology, Mr Kapil Sibal, has mooted the proposal to the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S.
Rajasekhar Reddy, and the latter has approved it.
The department will have diagnostic, treatment and counselling facilities for people with inherited genetic disorders. It will also be used for imparting training to medical professionals in the super-specialty discipline in the form of DM and DNB programmes.
Mr Sibal, in a letter to the Chief Minister, said the department would be helpful and studying and treat ing genetic disorders, especially the ones that are prevalent in tribal and agency areas.
The Union minister also pointed out that Hyderabad already had the CDFD which possessed the necessary expertise in medical genetics technology.
Directors of CDFD and Nims have held discussions on jointly setting up the department. Nims would provide the space and facilities for patient care and CDFD would provide the equipment.
The department would have three permanent clinical faculty posts at the professor, associate professor and assistant professor levels. There would also be two or three more posts for PhD holders.
Mr Sibal has assured financial support through department of biotechnology and CDFD for running costs in Nims for the first five years. The state government would have to sign a MoU with the secretary of the department of biotechnology for this.