The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has called for joint research proposals for 2003 under the ongoing Indo-US Collaboration on Maternal and Child Health and Human Development Research (MCHDR) from research scientists of both countries. Indian investigators have been asked to submit their pre-proposals before May 30, 2003.

ICMR is the nodal agency in the country for the programme while its US counterpart in the US is the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services.

MCHDR is administered by a Secretariat consisting of staff from the US and Indian nodal agencies. The deadline for the submission of short listed full proposals is July 15, 2003. The proposals are to be reviewed by the expert panels set up by the nodal agencies for scientific merit.

Specific areas to be addressed within the programme include the Prevention and treatment of leading causes of maternal, neonatal, and paediatric morbidity and mortality (including toxemia, hemorrhage, sepsis, birth asphyxia and trauma, accidents, diarrhoea and other infectious diseases, etc. Prevention and treatment of low birth weight and intrauterine growth retardation, Maternal and Child nutrition and the role of micronutrients in healthy child bearing and paediatric and adolescent health and development, Birth defects, genetic disorders, and developmental research, Improved understanding of pathophysiology, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases in women and children, including childhood asthma, acute respiratory tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, reproductive tract infections, malignancies, and HIV/AIDS are also subjects of interest.

Though the areas of priority are not limited to the list, the ICMR has included issues related with reproductive health, traditional systems of medicine and practices, emergency obstetric care for miscarriages and other problems of pregnancy, including severe preeclampsia, hemorrhage, and embolism, relationship among maternal nutrition, fetal growth/development, and degenerative diseases in later life, and analysis, consensus building and policy formulation on public health benefits of new approaches to improve maternal and child health under the priority list.

India and the US signed MCHDR agreement on June 13, 2000 to expand its cooperation in maternal & child health research through an expanded programme.

Research proposals will be peer-reviewed in India and the United States and approved research projects would be supported appropriately on Indian and US side to meet research costs and other resources. Indian/US investigators interested in participation in the MCHDR program should send a letter of inquiry requesting submission materials. The letter of inquiry should include: (1) the name of the investigators proposing the project to be supported with supplemental funds; (2) current status of NIH funding (including the number of the grant to be supplemented and name of the principal Investigator, if different); (3) the title and a brief description of the proposed research including priority areas of the overall program; (4) the names of the US and Indian Collaborators, and their institutional affiliations; (5) brief biographical sketches; and (6) the anticipated project duration.

The MCHDR program will usually fund supplemental grants to existing NIH-funded projects. Priority will be given to investigative collaborations with US investigators currently funded by NICHD. Awards to US Investigators will generally be limited to $50,000 per year in direct costs for up to three years. Applications with budgetary requests exceeding this amount will be reviewed by the US Secretariat on a case by case basis for appropriateness. Please note that applications from US investigators for supplemental funding to existing grants must be submitted by the grantee institution on behalf of the grant's principal investigator.

Indian collaborating agencies involved in support of this program include the Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National AIDS Control Organization. US collaborating agencies include other NIH Institutes and Centers, other Department of Health and Human Services agencies, the US Agencies for International Development (USAID), and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In addition to the Secretariat, the overall scientific goals and procedures are overseen by a Joint Working Group (JWG) consisting of independent US and Indian Investigators and staff from participating agencies with expertise covering the range of topics to be addressed by the MCHDR program.