AIIMS, IIIT Delhi collaborate to advance digital health technologies

NEW DELHI: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology(IIIT) Delhi have signed an agreement to work on various aspects of digital health areas. Under the agreement, IIIT Delhi and AIIMS will work together in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Computational Genomics for advanced clinical medicine, public health and biomedical research.

The focus of the collaboration will be on improving patient care, outcomes, and healthcare delivery through the development of innovative technologies. The two institutions will also engage in joint research and training, the exchange of faculty and students, and the organization of workshops and seminars to promote collaboration in the field of digital health.

It will also focus on solving the major health challenges facing India such as access to healthcare in remote and underserved areas by building technology innovations in m-Health, artificial intelligence, interoperability, cybersecurity, and allied areas.

Professor Srinivas, AIIMS Director welcomed the joint initiative and said, “This was a platform for getting together faculties with diverse domains from two top-notch institutions and facilitating them to converge towards attaining objectives which may have a direct impact on patient health care and research in multiple areas. This would be an exciting opportunity for AI-based algorithms and digital solutions for which AIIMS can provide the big data and IIIT can work on algorithms. This endeavour would also ignite young minds in both institutes and inspire them to come up with out of box solutions for day-to-day health care”.

Speaking at the occasion, Director, IIIT-Delhi, Professor Ranjan Bose said, “This forward-looking MoU will enable joint research related to Digital Health, developing technology solutions for secure Digital Health applications, and jointly applying for external research funding, among other joint research and developmental activities. There are several points of common interests, including AI/ML for healthcare, therapeutic design using computational techniques, m-Health, digital solutions for sustainable development goals, patient data safety, cybersecurity, computational genomics, and universal health coverage framework. There is also provision for identifying and supporting intramural funding for co-funded projects, and developing joint courses under this MoU. We hope to leverage each other’s strengths to create a larger impact in the healthcare space.”

In addition, the agreement outlines the commitment of both institutions to work together on computational genomics research, which will be used to advance the understanding of the genomic basis of human diseases and inform the development of personalized treatments.

The official release reads: "The agreement represents a major milestone in the partnership between IIIT-Delhi and AIIMS and will help to promote the use of technology to improve healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Both institutions are committed to working together to advance digital health research in India and to support the country's efforts to achieve sustainable development goals. The MoU marks the start of a long-term collaboration between both institutions and will contribute to the advancement of digital health research in India".