The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ajit Isaac, founder and chairman of Quess Corp, and his wife Sarah Isaac to set up a Centre for Public Health on its campus. They have committed ₹105 crore towards the centre, which will be called Isaac Centre for Public Health (ICPH). It will be located in the IISc Medical School’s Academic and Research block and span over 27,000 sq ft.
The centre will be part of the postgraduate medical school soon to be established on campus. Earlier this year, philanthropist couples Susmita and Subroto Bagchi, and Radha and N.S. Parthasarathy had donated ₹425 crore to IISc to set up a postgraduate medical college and an 800-bed multi-specialty hospital on its Bengaluru campus.
The goal of the centre, which is expected to become operational by 2024, is to encourage aspirants to pursue careers in clinical research to develop new treatments and healthcare solutions driven by a bench-to-bedside philosophy, said a statement from Quess Corp.
“A strong nation is not only built on education and employment but also on sound public health. And the onus of building a healthier future cannot lie on the government alone,” said Mr. Isaac.
IISc Director Govindan Rangarajan underscored the need for India to have a world class centre for clinical and academic research in public health. The proposed Centre will interface across all departments of the medical school ans well as other science and engineering departments at IISc in the context of public health research. It will also create a niche for health data science and analytics putting it on a par with international counterparts like the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Prof. Rangarajan added.
According to a statement, the centre will offer dual degree programmes such as Masters of Public Health (MPH)-PhD (5-6 years) and Masters of Public Health (MPH)-MTech Research (3 years). The annual student intake will be 10 per year with a steady-state student population of about 40 over time.
