All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi has entered into a partnership with the University College London (UCL) to enable collaborations in research and increase the number of academic and student exchange opportunities between both the institutions.

A formal "Letter of Intent" was signed between UCL's President Professor Michael Arthur and AIIMS Director Professor Randeep Guleria recently.

"Through closer collaboration and shared expertise, we will gain a deeper insight into our ground-breaking research and fulfill our joint ambition to address some of the biggest challenges facing society today.

"Furthering academic and student exchange programmes, will also enrich both UCL's and AIIMS communities, enabling them to develop and grow intellectually, culturally and socially," a statement quoting Arthur said.

UCL and AIIMS will explore a number of potential collaborative areas, including academic staff collaboration in research and education in mutually agreed areas of common interest, potential development of staff exchange programmes, visiting scholars programmes and research fellowship programmes among others, the statement said.

Guleria said, "This collaboration is an immense opportunity for bilateral work-flow on more than one aspect. It is also an opportunity for dialogue including the exchange of ideas, training, and empowerment for high-end biotechnological research."

Our focus under this 'Letter of Intent' would be on training opportunities for students, faculty and researchers at both institutes and establishment of a clinical trial unit to further enhance these capabilities.

"As part of the ongoing research collaborations, AIIMS has also joined the new International Centre for Genomic Medicine in Neuromuscular Diseases (ICGMN), led by UCL. The ICGMN is a £5m initiative, bringing together skills and resources from five countries and aims to advance the genetic diagnosis and therapy for patients with muscle wasting neuromuscular diseases, including motor neurone disease and muscular dystrophy," the statement added.