The Ministry of AYUSH and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have signed a landmark agreement to champion high-quality research in integrative healthcare. This initiative leverages India's unique strengths in traditional medicine systems, combined with its robust modern medical infrastructure. Among 17 AIIMS which applied for the establishment of an AI-ACIHR Centre, AIIMS Nagpur is one of the four centres chosen in the country. Two project proposals from AIIMS Nagpur have been selected.

 

AIIMS Nagpur will establish an Advanced Centre for Integrative Health Research in Cancer Care, signifying its pivotal role in this national initiative. The programme will focus on generating evidence-based data by integrating traditional AYUSH systems with modern medicine and cutting-edge technology. Two research projects focusing on an integrative approach to head and neck cancers, led by principal investigators, Dr Gayatri Muthiyan (Department of Anatomy) and Dr Kiran Kumar Prathipati (Department of ENT), have been selected. Dr Vinu Vij (Department of Physiology) has been appointed as Nodal Officer for the centre.

 

These projects involve a team of coinvestigators from various departments: Radiotherapy, ENT, Community Medicine, Pharmacology, Dentistry, Surgical Oncology and various collaborating institutes including Government Ayurveda College; GoVidnyan Anusandhan Kendra, Deolapar; IIT Kharagpur, and Regional Ayurveda Research Institute, Nagpur. Dr (Prof.) Prashant P. Joshi, Executive Director, AIIMS Nagpur, has expressed his unstinting support and commitment towards the successful establishment of this integrative research centre at AIIMS Nagpur.