Ashoka University receives grant from DST to accelerate research on infectious diseases  

The objective of the grant is to accelerate research on disease dynamics in India

The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India has given a grant of Rs 9.50 crore to Ashoka University under its ‘Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence’ (PURSE) programme to accelerate research on the “Holistic View of Disease Dynamics in Indian Context”. The utilisation period of the grant is 4 years.

Rs 1 crore out of the total sanctioned amount will be utilised for the analysis of ancient DNA samples from archaeological findings from various sites – a uniquely interdisciplinary project spanning from Disease Biology to History (Archaeology), supported by DST.

The grant will be deployed for Ashoka’s ongoing research on the historical evolution of various diseases in India, with a focus on their relation with climatic factors, food habits, demographic variations, age, gender and socio-economic background of individuals. Further, to train students across a range of disciplines to answer critical questions around such diseases. This will pave the way for the development of human resource capacity as well as effective counter-strategies that are specifically suitable for the Indian context.

Professor Somak Ray Chaudhury, Vice Chancellor, Ashoka University said, “Addressing the dynamic concerns around prevailing infectious diseases and potential future outbreaks effectively requires an interdisciplinary approach, that takes into account inputs from natural as well as social sciences. At Ashoka, this approach is the bedrock of our educational offerings and research initiatives. Our excellent faculty body, as well as continued investments in research infrastructure, makes us well-positioned to take on such challenges. We are grateful to the Department of Science and Technology for recognising Ashoka’s research strength, and extending this prestigious grant for further research work.”

Speaking on the need for such a research initiative, Dr Anurag Agrawal, Dean, BioSciences and Health Research, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University, said, “In recent years, while on one side we have observed the emergence of a large number of novel infectious agents like COVID-19, on the other many old diseases like Tuberculosis are coming back along with new pathogen variants and causing major public health problems. We do not have sufficient means of predicting what kind of pathogen is likely to emerge as the next big threat, especially in the Indian context. Therefore, this research initiative will prepare the ground for medical practitioners, experts and policymakers to develop cutting edge solutions to such threats.”