The Medical Research Council (MRC) and India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are funding the centres, two of which will focus on antimicrobial resistance, while the third researches cancer biology.
UK and India are jointly investing in three new global health research centres.
Using high quality reearch team based in the UK and India, the centres will take a global perspective in tackling some of the largest global health problems of today and foster the next generation of researchers with specialist skills.
- The Cambridge-Chennai Centre Partnership on Antimicrobial Resistant Tuberculosis will look to develop new diagnostic tools and new treatments to address the sharp rise in cases of multidrug resistant Tuberculosis.
- UK-India Centre for Advanced Technology for Minimising the indiscriminate use of Antibiotics will focus on finding solutions to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics. For example, it will establish smart materials for the detection and targeted delivery of antibiotics for eye infections, and promote the use of these new technologies in other infective diseases.
- MRC-DBT Joint Centre for Cancer Biology & Therapeutics will foster research on cancer biology and therapy in India through collaborative research programmes, translational research and capacity building.
The MRC is investing £3.5 million through the Newton Fund, with matched funding provided by DBT.
Antimicrobial resistance is steadily rising on the international agenda, with a UK review into the economic effect of antimicrobial resistance being led by economist Jim O’Neil.
See more about the MRC-DBT research centres here.