The Indian Institute of Technology—Madras could form a bio-cluster with institutions in the city, including a couple of hospitals to improve research, said Sowmya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research.
At the inauguration of the second block of the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences at the institute, she said the institute could form multidisciplinary consortia with various institutions in Taramani, and come up with translational products, making the best use of the available medical expertise in the city.
The institute’s state-of-the-art equipment could be used to find answers for the diabetes epidemic, given India’s diverse genetic population. The institute’s data science and the IT expertise could be harnessed to look at demographic data, map hotspots and intensify control in infectious diseases, said Dr. Sowmya, who is also the Deputy Director General, World Health Organisation.
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D. Karunagaran, head of the Department of Biotechnology, said the new block would not only offer additional laboratory space, but also house the Indo-German Sustainability Centre and the animal house.
The institute has a dedicated space for animal house besides the first of its kind community-driven National Cancer Tissue Biobank. The bank has over 1,500 samples collected from cancer patients in the city, S. Mahalingam, professor in the department, said.
IIT-M director Bhaskar Ramamurthi thanked the Mehta Family Foundation for their support.
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