With nothing much to boast of the research activities in the 40 and odd medical colleges under its purview, the NTR University of Health Sciences (NTRUHS) has decided to lay more emphasis on both clinical and laboratory research.
The objectives behind the move are to enhance the varsity’s reputation including the affiliated colleges and to garner more funds from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Departments of Science & Technology and Biotechnology. As a part of the initiative, the university administration has already identified 12 to 15 senior medical practitioners who will help faculty and students plan more research activities in all the medical colleges.
NTRUHS Vice-Chancellor T. Ravi Raju and top administrators of the university have resolved to focus more on research by utilising the expertise of the doctors with practical insight that the faculty members usually do not have. Mr. Ravi Raju said a miniscule quantity of campus-based research was being done in medical colleges in A.P and there was no way the NTRUHS could make its mark globally unless the research activity picked up substantially. “The NTRUHS would enter into some sort of understanding with expert doctors to further its objectives on the research front,” he said. He said the NTRUHS was sought to be included in the 10th Schedule of A.P Reorganization Act that guarantees the ‘continuance of facilities in certain State institutions’.
