A pharmacy student from Leicester is putting into practice the skills he has learnt as part of his degree to assist a celebrity-backed charity with diabetes testing in India.
Shailen Karia, 20, has just finished his second year of study at De Montfort University (DMU) and will head out to Goa to spend two weeks testing people for diabetes.
The trip has been organised by DMU Pharmacy Professor Joan Taylor and Silver Star Appeal, a charity devoted to diabetes awareness that has recently opened an office in Goa.
Shailen will travel around in one of the charity's Mobile Diabetes Assessment Units offering free testing to people in the community and will also spend some time at the country’s largest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy.
"I have always wanted to volunteer abroad so was ecstatic when Professor Taylor told me I had been chosen for the placement. My own brother is diabetic so I know how important it is for people to be tested and treated properly," Shailen said.
Professor Taylor said: "I'm really pleased that we have been able to find someone like Shailen who has shown so much enthusiasm for the work that Silver Star do. Shailen will be able to gain some very practical, hands on experience and Silver Star will benefit from the expertise he has learnt during the first two years of his pharmacy degree."
Silver Star was founded in 2007 by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz after he was diagnosed with the condition. Patrons for the charity now include Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty.
