The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has approved 13 new projects for its mega-funding programme for genomic research and allied medical sciences. These projects were selected out of the 32 proposals received from various institutions in the area of genomic research and medical schools in the country.
The approvals were given after considering all 32 proposals received for the year 2002-03 from various research institutions and medical schools across the country. All initiatives are in the area of genomics and molecular genetics.
The council has already sanctioned funds to carry out 65 research programmes in the same area early this year. The sanctioned ones are among the 101 projects approved by ICMR from among 162 proposals reached last year. The Union Health Ministry is known to have assured a sum of Rs 50 crore as initial outlay for the funding purpose.
The ICMR initiative is the first-ever genomic research project of its kind to be undertaken in the country with the participation of 13 medical institutions and hospitals and ICMR basic research institutions. The whole programme has been planned keeping in mind the overall benefits it means to the Indian healthcare sector. The corpus amount is to be spent during the first three years. The government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for genomics research in the 10th Five Year Plan. It would be part of the Rs 1,000 plan allocation for ICMR.
The just sanctioned and the ongoing projects cover areas such as vaccine genomics, vaccinology, drug development, vector genomics, disease susceptibility genes, pharmacogenetics, genetic diseases/disorders, nutritional genomics and reproductive genomics. Though there are more deserving applications expecting ICMR clearance, the council has decided to go for more approval after having sanctioned the required amount to all already approved projects. There are 49 approved projects including the 13 ones approved for the next year, that are awaiting the sanctions. The most interesting outcome of the ICMR initiative is the opening up of joint research possibilities between basic research institutions and medical institutions. A number of bioinformatics centers are also planned as per the project.
Leading institutions like AIIMS, New Delhi, PGI, Chandigarh, Sanjay Gandhi Institute, Lucknow and JNU, New Delhi are part of the initiative. The bioinformatics centers are designed to collect and collate data and statistics pertaining to various areas of medical research and supply the information to medical colleges and have been started only in medical schools. ICMR sources said that while India has proven strengths in basic research, it has never been seen as a force to reckon with when it comes to translation of its capabilities at the practical level. Through the current programme, ICMR is trying to bridge this gap between researchers and medical practitioners.