A National Centre for Excellence for Ayurveda-inspired Discovery (AID), which will lead research into efficacy mechanisms involved in Ayurvedic therapeutics, is being set up at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), an official release said here on Friday. AID is a research programme of the RGCB.
The centre will also develop standardisation protocols and certification systems to help traditional medicines get scientific validation and gain global acceptability. It will also lead research into identifying active compounds in medicinal plants and herbal formulations as well as its molecular targets and pathways to discover potentially new therapeutic uses for these.
Union Minister for State for AYUSH Shripad Yesso Naik will formally announce the setting up of the new centre on January 11 at a function at the RGCB. Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar will be present on the occasion. Mr. Naik will also announce the details of the National Arogya Expo 2015 to be held in Thiruvanathapuram later in the year by the World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF), in partnership with the RGCB.
ADVERTISEMENT
Among the objectives of the AID Centre of Excellence will be the analysis of Ayurvedic therapeutics for treatment response and its effect on patho-physiological processes, developing uniform protocols, compositions and components.
The project will also study medicinal plant conservation and metabolic engineering. Two independent sister campuses have also been proposed under the new centre – an Ayurvedic Clinical Research Centre at Konni and a High Altitude Discovery Centre at Munnar. Leading biomedical companies and Ayurveda research firms are expected to join hands with the AID project.
Research into mechanisms involved in Ayurvedic therapeutics