IIT Madras opens diabetes research centre to tackle challenges & drive innovation

The new centre will also foster product development, potential start-ups, and commercialisation efforts to transform diabetes management and treatment.

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) launched a research centre on Diabetes to drive advancements in diabetes research and develop innovative technologies to address the challenges in diabetes care and associated complications.

The ‘Shankar Center of Excellence for Diabetic Research’ (SCoEDR) has been supported by funding from IIT Madras Alumnus Awardee Subramonian Shankar (1971 - B.Tech - Electrical Engineering).

This ‘Shankar Center of Excellence for Diabetic Research’ (SCoEDR) has been supported by funding from IIT Madras Alumnus Awardee Mr Subramonian Shankar (1971 - B.Tech - Electrical Engineering).

The centre was inaugurated in the presence of Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Chris Hodges, U.S. Consul General, Chennai, Subramonian Shankar, CEO and Founder, AmZetta Technologies, LLC, Prof Ashwin Mahalingam, Dean-Designate (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, and other dignitaries.

“The ‘Shankar Center of Excellence for Diabetic Research’ has come at a very important juncture when we are building the Department of Medical Science and Technology. The objective of the Department is to see how technology can intervene to either prevent an illness or diagnose quickly and treat the illness. With diabetes being one of the most prevalent illness in the country, the outcome of this joint activity that will happen in this centre of excellence will be of great societal and national importance," said Prof V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.

“It is stunning to see the amount of intellectual genius every time I come here. On treating diabetes, you are talking about isolating variables in a challenging environment. It is satisfying to see the partnership between two leaders - IIT Madras and Emory Global Diabetes Research Center (EGDRC) at Emory University, U.S - come together and even greater to see members of the Indian Diaspora in the U.S. like Mr. Subramonian Shankar lead such initiatives,” said Chris Hodges, U.S. Consul General, Chennai.

The Center will support 15 PhD students as ‘Shankar Fellows’ over the coming years, enabling them to undertake cutting-edge research. The new Centre will also foster product development, potential start-ups, and commercialisation efforts to transform diabetes management and treatment, informed IIT Madras.

“I came to know of a Centre at Emory University that was working on diabetes. What stuck me about this centre was that It was a research facility and in my entire life, I have been a research and development person. This Centre was publishing hundreds of papers a year but all academic with not much going to the industry and applying the research for the bettering of human health condition. Being a entrepreneur, I suggested to the Centre that his work can be applied to the industry and offered to work with him on this aspect. The Emory University agreed to my suggestions.” said Subramonian Shankar, CEO and Founder, AmZetta Technologies, LLC.

As part of its mission, SCoEDR established a partnership between IIT-Madras and the Emory Global Diabetes Research Center (EGDRC) at Emory University, U.S. This collaboration will enable joint research initiatives, knowledge exchange and expertise-sharing in diabetes research, combining the strengths of both institutions in biomedical innovation and public health, mentioned the press release.