IISc Bangalore received a donation of Rs 425 crore from the co-founders of Mindtree, Susmita and Subroto Bagchi, and Radha and SN Parthasarathy to set up a Postgraduate medical school supplemented with an 800-bed multispeciality hospital. The medical college, which will be called the Bagchi-Parthasarthy Hospital, will offer a dual degree MD-PhD programme that will further its interest in advanced diagnostics and research facilities, and allow PG students to conduct clinical research. These students, who are being projected as physician-scientists, will identify their areas of research that combines biotechnology, nanotechnology, or data science and AI with medical diagnosis and research.
Another dual degree in the offing is the MD-MTech programme to develop indigenous med-tech products. The med-tech incubation system will support this initiative. The institute also proposes start-up research grants for the staff, and funded internships for students to study at medical schools abroad.
The institute will begin construction of the hospital in June this year, and aims to complete it by the end of 2024. The first batch of students will be admitted in 2025. "This has the potential to have a global impact. We aim to gain excellence in clinical research and medical technology," said Director of IISc Prof Govindan Rangarajan. "The institute will focus on providing affordable healthcare solutions for our country and the developing world. Foster interdisciplinary research to address healthcare needs. It will be a fully digital hospital. Medical records on patients' phones. It will be a confluence of basic science, engineering and technology and clinical sciences. It will be possible only in IISc because we have a strong background in these areas already. We have a natural advantage to start this hospital and medical school," explained the Director.
The institute will focus on diabetes, metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases and infectious diseases. The MD-PhD programme will also be a unique initiative in the country. students will rotate in shifts for three-four months to identify their area of interest. they will submit a single thesis for the MD-PhD programme, said the Director.
Talking about how the funding came about, the director stated that the vision of the donors and the institute matched well enough to finalise what is the single largest private donation in the history of the IISc since it was founded in 1909, in just a matter of three meetings over seven days.
