AIIMS-B teams up with Dutch experts to bring personalised meds to patients

Bhopal: AIIMS Bhopal is stepping into the future of healthcare with a new partnership with Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Together, they will work on cutting-edge research in pharmacogenomics — the science of how our genes affect the way medicines work.For patients, the collaboration promises more personalised treatment. Instead of relying on the same medicine for everyone, genetic testing could help doctors identify which drug will work best for each individual, leading to safer prescriptions, fewer side effects and faster recovery.This research aims to evaluate scalability, clinical utility, and health-economic impact, with the goal of making treatments more personalized and cost-effective.A high-level delegation from Erasmus Medical Centre, led by Prof Peter J van der Spek, head of clinical bioinformatics, visited AIIMS Bhopal and met with the institute director Dr Madhabananda Kar. During the meeting, a letter of intent was presented to strengthen academic cooperation between the two institutions. The proposed project, valued at over Rs 10 crores, will be spearheaded by Dr Shubham Atal, additional professor in the Department of Pharmacology at AIIMS Bhopal, who will serve as the principal investigator. Prof (Dr) Madhabananda Kar welcomed the initiative, while Prof. Peter J. van der Spek highlighted the potential to build a robust Indo–Dutch partnership in precision medicine.