NEW DELHI: In a pioneering collaboration, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, and University College London (UCL) have united to drive innovation in medical technology. The three prestigious institutions signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on November 22, 2024, committing to work together on cutting-edge healthcare solutions.
This trilateral partnership combines AIIMS’s medical expertise, IIT Delhi’s engineering prowess, and UCL’s global policy knowledge to tackle some of the world’s most pressing health challenges. The focus will be on developing new technologies in areas such as diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced surgical interventions.
Dr Michael Spence, President and Provost, UCL exclusively spoke to The New Indian and said “The idea of this particular collaboration is that IIT is a world-leading centre for science and technology. AIIMS is a world-leading centre for clinical care. UCL is a world-leading centre for both. We think that if you bring that global expertise together, the possibility in the area of medical technology to deliver patient benefit is enormous. We know the future of medical care is going to be about taking forward advances in fields like AI, in areas like quantum technologies, in areas like medical devices, and making sure that they’re used as well as they possibly can be in as many clinical contexts as possible.” “We think between our three institutions, we just have a powerhouse of expertise to address those issues” he added.
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UCL has signed a Letter of Intent to facilitate closer collaboration with Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) forthcoming postgraduate medical school across research, education, innovation, and commercialization. Michael Spence shared his experience of collaborating with IIS and said “That’s a different kind of project, they are a science and technology university that is moving into clinical medicine for the first time and so we’re thinking together there about what a technology-enabled hospital might look like.”
Professor Alok Thakar from AIIMS emphasized that the collaboration represents a transformative step in addressing societal health challenges by combining medical science, engineering, and policy. “Together, we aim to set new benchmarks in medical technology and enhance patient care,” he said. Similarly, IIT Delhi’s Director, Professor Rangan Banerjee, expressed excitement about the potential to create cost-effective innovations that could improve healthcare accessibility worldwide.
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The partnership will foster research and development through joint programmes, collaborative degrees, and workshops, alongside student and staff exchanges. This approach will create a dynamic platform for MedTech innovation, aimed at making a significant global impact.
Dr. Michael Spence noted that this collaboration will enable the institutions to tackle global health challenges more effectively by bringing together interdisciplinary expertise. As part of the agreement, the delegation visited IIT Delhi’s med tech facility, mPRAGATI, a national hub for medical device development.
The partnership builds on UCL’s long-standing collaborations with both AIIMS and IIT Delhi and marks the first time the three institutions will work together on such an ambitious initiative.