Under the 'Make in India' campaign, the fusion between medicine and technology is the way forward, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi said on Friday.
M Srinivas was addressing a gathering here on the occasion of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research's (PGIMER) 9th Annual Research Day.
"These endeavours towards research are a step forward towards collaboration, towards bringing in fusion between medical and engineering, which is commendable as we have not seen these initiatives much in India," he said.
Complimenting PGIMER, Srinivas said, "The kind of research that is on display, with less resources, without scientists and despite the huge workload is appreciable".
"It is a great thing that the past and present luminaries have brought this institute to this level of clinical and research experience and the quality and the standards is clearly visible in the outcome of the research," he said.
Tamar Ghosh, CEO of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London, encouraged the young researchers to apply for funding with her organisation.
"Whether the research project be in a lab, a field-based project with communities or policy-based project, whatever it is, it does not matter what disease area, it is in the area of health. The point is we want to stimulate the new leaders and the new innovators by taking that first plunge doing their first projects," she said.
Prof Rajeev Ahuja, Director IIT, Ropar, emphasised research as the mother of innovation as he said, "You cannot be an innovative country until your research is very strong."
"The most innovative countries in the world are small nordic countries which are in the top 10 in innovation. However, in India, we are below 40. Though we have made a lot of progress, there is still a long way to go," he said.
Highlighting 'collaborative efforts' as the precursor for research, Ahuja spoke on the upcoming hub for medical innovations in IIT Ropar and the MoU signed between PGIMER, Chandigarh and IIT, Ropar.
Prof Vivek Lal, Director of PGIMER cited India as the pioneer in research and highlighted the rich research and scientific heritage of PGIMER.