IISc Bangalore to establish centre for public health in collaboration with Ajit Isaac, Sarah Isaac

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, is collaborating with Ajit Isaac, founder and chairman of Quess Corp, and Sarah Isaac, for setting up a Centre for Public Health at the IISc Bangalore campus. The centre is expected to start functioning by 2024 and will provide opportunities to candidates for pursuing a career in clinical research and to develop new treatments and healthcare solutions.

According to a statement from IISc, the centre will offer “dual degree programmes such as master of public health (MPH)-PhD (5-6 years) and master of public health (MPH)-MTech research (3 years).” About a maximum of 10 students will be inducted per year in the centre. The centre will also include research labs and computational facilities for academic and research purposes.

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IISc has signed an agreement with Ajit Isaac, founder and chairman of Quess Corp, and Sarah Isaac under which they will provide funds amounting to Rs 105 crore for setting up the public health centre at the IISc campus. The centre, which will be made a part of the upcoming postgraduate medical school at IISc Bangalore will be called Isaac Centre for Public Health (ICPH).

The funding will cover international fellowships and scholarships for IISc students, and visiting chair professorships and endowed chair professorships. The centre will also fund research projects in public health such as bio-surveillance, digital health, mobile-based diagnostics, among others.

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“There is an acute need for India to have a world-class centre for clinical and academic research in public health to be able to make quicker and more impactful strides in realising the goal of quality healthcare for all. The proposed Centre will interface between all the departments of the IISc Medical School, and also other science and engineering departments of IISc in the context of public health research. In particular, the Center will create a niche for health data science and analytics through close collaboration with the existing world-class computer science and data science departments at IISc, putting it on par with international counterparts like the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. We are grateful for such contributions from philanthropic leaders like Mr and Mrs Isaac who make it possible for us to move from aspirations to actually realising our goals,” said Govindan Rangarajan, director of IISc Bangalore.