Jorge Morales Pedraza Final versión ______________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Jorge Morales Pedraza Guest Editor 1 Final version article 3 The impact of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) program on radiation and tissue banking in Singapore Aziz Nather and Jorge Morales Pedraza Aziz Nather, National University Hospital Tissue Bank, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Yong Loo Lin School Medicine, National University of Singapore. Jorge Morales Pedraza, former IAEA Interregional Project Manager, Charasgasse 3 apart. 13, A- 1030, Vienna, Austria Key words: Singapore, IAEA, tissue banking, tissue banks. Abstract: The National University Hospital (NUH) Tissue Bank was established in October 1988. The National University of Singapore (NUS) was officially appointed by IAEA to be the IAEA/NUS Regional Training Centre (RTC) for RCA Member States for training of tissue bank operators on September 18, 1996. In the first five years since its establishment the National University Hospital Tissue Bank concentrated its work on the sterile procurement and production of deep frozen femoral heads and were used in patients for bone reconstruction. The cost of producing these tissues were about SGD$ 250 per femoral head although cost fees were initially charged at SGD$ 50 per femoral head. The most important activity carried out by Singapore within the IAEA was training. Between November 1997 and April 2007, a total of nine courses were conducted by RTC with a total of 180 tissue bank operators registered, 133 from Asia and the Pacific region (13 countries, including 2 from Iran), 14 from Africa (Zambia, Libya, Egypt, Algeria, and South Africa), 6 from Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Uruguay), 9 from Europe (Greece, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine), and 2 from Australia. The last batch (ninth batch) involved 20 students registered in April 2007 and will be due to sit for the terminal examination in April 2008.