IIT Bombay announces the launch of its new Centre for Digital Health

IIT Bombay has set up the 'Koita Centre for Digital Health' (KCDH) with a contribution received from its alumni Rekha and Rizwan Koita, under the aegis of the Koita Foundation. KCDH will be the first of its kind in India, focused on driving academic programs, research and industry collaboration in Digital Health.

Improving the quality, accessibility and affordability of healthcare is one of the world's biggest priorities. Digital Health, including healthcare informatics, has a profound impact on the quality of care and efficiency of healthcare delivery. Consequently, there is substantial focus globally on enhancing Digital Health and Informatics. In India too, the launch of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) in 2020 is expected to drive Digital Health adoption at a national scale.

KCDH's academic and research focus areas include clinical applications (including electronic patient records and medical imaging), healthcare data management (including healthcare data privacy and security), healthcare analytics, healthcare AI /ML, consumer health, public health and public policy. KCDH will offer minor, dual degree, Masters and PhD programs in Healthcare Informatics. KCDH will conduct industry / outreach programs for healthcare and industry professionals in digital health and enable them to act as force-multipliers.

Digital Health and Informatics need cross functional expertise - computer science, statistics, AI/ machine learning, bio informatics, and medicine. KCDH will foster strong collaboration with Digital Health Partners - hospitals, medical research institutes, industry. KCDH and its Digital Health Partners will establish joint academic and research programs. In addition, KCDH will actively collaborate with healthcare technology companies, healthcare NGOs and government organizations.

KCDH is establishing a world-class advisory board consisting of experienced healthcare professionals, academics, healthcare technology and industry veterans. The advisory board will provide overall vision and guidance to KCDH.

"The centre will enable an ecosystem that can help address the healthcare challenges, that have been so glaringly exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital Health and Informatics need cross-functional expertise," said Prof. Subhasis Chaudhuri, Director, IIT Bombay. "At KCDH we hope to enable seamless cross-functionality across these streams. We hope this new initiative will open up exciting opportunities for our graduates, including spearheading research, launching startups, and much more."

Koita Foundation will work closely with the Centre to help scale its operations and work with Digital Health Partners on joint digital health initiatives (e.g., internships, research programs). Koita Foundation can also provide financial support to Digital Healthcare Partners, as part of its overall commitment to Digital Health. In addition, Koita Foundation will help the Centre establish industry relationships e.g., healthcare technology and medical device companies.

"Digital Health is critical to improving healthcare at scale. We are delighted to support IIT Bombay in establishing the Centre, which can play a pivotal role in improving healthcare in India and across the world", added Rizwan Koita, Founder Koita Foundation. "We look forward to supporting KCDH establish and drive digital health partnerships and industry collaboration". Koita is also the co-founder and CEO of CitiusTech, a global healthcare technology company.