The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is further equipping the existing system to improve the quality in auditing of on-going intramural projects with a view to ensuring timely and tangible results of the projects taken up under its different institutes.

As part of a three-tier system in place for auditing, a scientific advisory committee (SAC), comprising of subject related experts, assists each ICMR Institute and the centre.  The SAC oversees the research activities including review of on-going projects and clearing new project.

The ICMR now is adding new parameters to improve the quality of auditing like assessment of promising leads and ensuring of basic translational research at the institute levels. The ICMR is also seeking further technical and financial resources for the SAC.

There is also a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) comprising 21 members representing different institutions and disciplines, as specified in the Rules and Regulations of the ICMR, to review the reports. It also recommends advisory groups and offers advices to the ICMR.

The recent meeting of the SAC reviewed the progress made in developing a vaccine against AIDS among other projects recently. “A phase I HIV vaccine trial using the prime boost approach was initiated in NARI, Pune and TRC, Chennai. The enrolment for the trial has been completed and the volunteers are now being followed,” sources said.

New proposal on “ICMR- Indian National Diabetes Study-Phase I,” has been initiated at three states and one Union Territory with the aim to understand prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes along its association with the genetic aspects, the meeting was told.

Guidelines on Management of buccal mucosa and cervical cancer have been finalised. As part of a  multi-centric Management of Acute Coronary Event Registry project, a web-based questionnaire had been designed and is currently being validated by entering data from patients registered by MACE registries at different centres.