A healthcare innovation incubation centre, BioNEST Bio incubator, was inaugurated at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research on October 12. The bio-incubation centre was inaugurated virtually by Dr Renu Swarup, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology and Chairperson, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC).

He said, "The Centre is located in a medical university so that it will help the entire spectrum of healthcare industry to translate innovative ideas into useful products and services for the patient. The centre should also help others in the early stage of validation and help roll out their products for commercial use."

The Innovation Incubation Centre (SRIIC) is supported by the Bio-NEST programme of Bio-Technology, BIRAC. The focus areas of this centre include clinical validation of medical devices, point of care diagnostic kits, nano technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning based tools in healthcare.

The centre is supported by multiple research facilities and sophisticated instrumentation facilities with hi-end bio-analytical capabilities.The Centre is established to identify the unmet needs of clinicians and involve entrepreneurs to come out with innovative solutions.

Dr Manish Diwan, Head, Strategic Partnership and Entrepreneurship Development, BIRAC. P V Vijayaraghavan, Vice-Chancellor, Dr SP Thyagarajan, Chancellor, Avinashilingam Institute of Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Dr Muthu Singaram, CEO, Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre, IIT-Chennai and Dr Hardeep Vora, CEO, SRIIC were among those who were present during the event.