New Delhi, Mar 9 (IANS): The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday was apprised of an MoU signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), of the US' National Institutes of Health in September 2021.
Under the MoU, the cooperation shall be undertaken primarily at the National Institute for Research on Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, in the scientific area which will also include translational and applied innovative research, epidemiology, medicine, molecular biology, medical entomology, parasitology, immunology, medicine, microbiology and virology, with a focus on techniques for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tropical infectious and allergic diseases.
The objectives of the collaboration includes tuberculosis, parasitic infections, HIV/AIDS, allergic diseases, immune system diseases, other emerging and re-emerging pathogens, and other diseases of shared scientific interest.
The agreement was originally signed in 2003 for the establishment of an International Centre for Excellence in Research (ICER) in Chennai, extended in 2008 and again in 2017 and now renewed as an MoU. The ICER, in collaboration with NIAID and the NIRT, has supported over 13 clinical protocols, helped in developing a seminal understanding of the immunology of helminth infections, elaborated the effects of diabetes mellitus on the immune response to tuberculosis, and undertaken several studies to understand malnutrition and tuberculosis.
It also started a pilot project to study the effects of helminth infection, SARS-CooV-2 seropositivity on the immune response.