Official Recognitions
IAEA Collaborating Centre
IAEA: In May 2010, IAEA formalises its relationship with the St. John´s Research Institute (SJRI) in Bangalore, India, designating it one of the IAEA´s select collaborating centres worldwide.
The SJRI has been working with the IAEA´s Nutrition and Health-Related Environmental Studies Section since 1988, and is well networked in India as well as internationally.
"The SJRI is not only special because of its excellent track record, but because it´s the first Institution we have chosen to be a collaborating centre in Nutrition," says Lena Davidsson, Head of the IAEA´s Nutritional and Health-related Environmental Studies Section.
The Institute´s research focuses on nutrition, cancer, as well as infectious and lifestyle-related diseases.
"This is an exceptionally good example of a centre where stable isotope technique is being used for nutrition-related research in a developing country," says Davidson.
The longstanding relationship between the IAEA and the SJRI has provided a number of benefits to both parties. For example, the SJRI analyses samples for Asian and African Member States, provides lecturers for the Agency´s courses on stable isotope technique, and trains research fellows from Member States worldwide.
Background
The IAEA has introduced the concept of collaborating centres to assist in implementing specific areas of its programme of research, development and training in nuclear technologies, while capitalizing upon and helping to expand the capabilities of Member States´ scientific and technical institutions.
Designation as a centre does not imply preeminence in the specific scientific field; rather it is a public recognition of the collaboration with the IAEA in a specific field of work.
See Story Resources for more information. http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2010/buildingrelations.html
Recognition Renewed
International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations has renewed and re-designated St. John’s Research Institute as their First and Only Nutrition Collaborating Centre in the World. The Institute was first recognised in the year 2010 which has since been renewed from 2015 to 2019.
Dr. Anura Kurpad, who heads the Division of Nutrition, was responsible for this recognition for St. John’s.
More information is available at: http://www-naweb.iaea.org/na/news-na/na-st-johns-research-institute.html
WHO
The WHO-Kangaroo Mother Care Project is a study being undertaken in a District of Karnataka state of Southern India with an objective of developing an efficient delivery model for covering and improving the quality of kangaroo mother care in low-birth weight infants. The target of this study is to attain a high coverage of at least 80% at the population level. The KMC Project is being technically and financially supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).
National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA
NHLBI Centers of Excellence
To help combat chronic diseases in developing countries, the UnitedHealth Chronic Disease Initiative and the NHLBI support a global network of Collaborating Centers of Excellence. Each center includes a research institution in a developing country paired with at least one partner academic institution in a developed country. These Centers of Excellence are developing infrastructures for research and training to enhance their capacity to conduct population-based or clinical research to monitor, prevent, or control chronic diseases, with a focus on cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.
India (Bangalore): St. John’s Research Institute, Bangalore, Karnataka
Partner: Population Health Research Institute (PHRI), Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada