India Alliance promotes clinical and public health research

Abstract

The India Alliance, an £80 million joint initiative between the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Wellcome Trust, has launched a new funding stream to tackle the dearth of clinical and public health research done in the country. Biomedical research centres across the country are internationally recognised for nurturing some of the bright est minds in the world. But a lack of infrastructure and resources has, until now, prevented translation of biomedical discoveries into public health solutions for India’s 1·2 billion population. Ajit Lalvani, professor of infectious diseases, Imperial College London, UK, is chair of the new India Alliance Clinical and Public Health Research Committee. “Clinical and public health research is something of a lacuna in the Indian medical research landscape currently”, he points out. “World-leading basic biomedical research is conducted widely in India but generally does not speak to the country’s enormous public health needs.” In response to this, the new committee aims to identify and support the best minds to adopt and nurture a practical orientation towards India’s immediate and near future clinical and public health needs. Due to the constraints of time and the sheer volume of patients, Indian clinicians rarely find opportunity to follow through on their research leads. They often work 13-hour days, 6 days a week. “Many of these clinicians have great ideas about how to address the problems they see on a daily basis”, says Lalvani. “We want to enable them to take a few years away from the coalface and actually conduct research.” The new programme is grounded within the India Alliance that was founded in 2008 in response to a shared desire to support high quality Indian research careers. “We felt it important that in a country of over 1 billion people a credible research career pathway should be available for the best scientists. In particular, the Alliance has been able to establish selection committees of Indian and international members using transparent, peer-reviewed, meritbased processes to select candidates”, remarks Jimmy Whitworth, Head of International Activities at the Wellcome Trust.