AIIMS and University College London sign new research and education partnership

New Delhi: Stepping up research collaborations and increasing the number of academic opportunities and students exchange programs, All India Institute of Medical Science and Universtiy College London have entered into a new strategic partneship.

As part of this commitment, UCL (University College London) is pleased to announce AIIMS has joined the new International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases (ICGMN), which is led by UCL said in a statement. The ICGMN is a pound 5m initiative, bringing together skills and resources from five countries and aims to advance the genetic diagnosis and therapy for patients with muscle wasting neuromuscular diseases, including motor neurone disease and muscular dystrophy, which affect at least 17m children and adults globally.

As a part of the Centre's research, AIIMS will soon launch its first patient trials. These trials will provide a better understanding of the different genes present in India's populations, which affect neuromuscular diseases, and this insight could lead to better treatments, official said.

Moreover, a letter of intent was signed between UCL's President and Provost, Professor Michael Arthur, and AIIMS' Director, Professor Randeep Guleria. "We are delighted to have signed a 'Letter of Intent' with AIIMS, agreeing to explore further how we might build on our strong relationship. Our existing collaborative activities span a range of areas in health and engineering, developed over a number of years," said Professor Michael Arthur, UCL President and Provost.

This collaboration is an immense opportunity for bilateral work-flow on more than one aspect. It is also an opportunity for a dialogue including exhange of ideas, training and empowerment for high end bio-technological research. Our focus under this 'letter of intent' would be on

training opportunities for students, faculty and researchers at both institutes and establishment of a clinical trials unit to further enhance these capablities, said Professor Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS,

New Delhi.