All India Institute of Medical Sciences

All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)

Centre Director 
About the Institute
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi was established by an Act of Parliament in 1956, to serve as a nucleus for nurturing healthcare excellence in the country for medical education, patient care and medical research.
  • The faculty, scientists and students of AIIMS, New Delhi, publish nearly 2000 articles, including systematic reviews, every year in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Most faculty and scientists are trained and well-versed in various aspects of systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
  • Several researchers at AIIMS, New Delhi, have vast experience in synthesizing, disseminating, and utilizing evidence through systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
  • Regular workshops are held by the Institute for researchers to disseminate necessary competencies related to research methodologies, systematic reviews and meta-analysis. With close coordination maintained with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, scientific evidence generated from the research work at AIIMS, New Delhi translates to policies and program interventions that benefit society at large.
  • Many faculty members lead scientific groups of national bodies that collectively formulate technical guidelines based on the best available scientific evidence.
  • The Institute has recently created a central facility in the form of a Clinical Research Unit (CRU) for fostering clinical research and review work by the members of the Institute. The unit will have all the necessary human resources and necessary statistical software for undertaking work related to evidence synthesis.
Strengths of the InstituteHuman resource: Researchers from AIIMS have been part of more than 60 Cochrane analyses, which suggests that even in the absence of a Cochrane Centre at AIIMS, the predilection for participation in evidence-based research is very strong. The involvement is going to get fortified with the placement of the Cochrane Affiliate Centre at AIIMS.
Research Section: In addition, there is a well-established Research Section that facilitates project and research activities of the faculty, including managerial, workforce, and administrative support.
Clinical Research Unit: To support, reinforce, and facilitate research in the Institute, a Clinical Research Unit (CRU) has been created recently under the leadership of Dean (Research). Generating high-quality systematic reviews will be an integral part of its mandate.
Physical infrastructure: Space will be earmarked for the Cochrane Centre in the CRU facility. Permission for this has been obtained from The Director, AIIMS. In addition, there are several seminar rooms, lecture theatres, conference/meeting halls, auditoria, boardroom to facilitate meetings and workshops. In addition, there is a dedicated telemedicine and e-learning facility to support the activities of a Centre.
Clinical Research Unit (CRU), Research Section, AIIMSThe CRU at AIIMS is a core facility with centralized shared resources. The goal of the CRU is to provide resources and services to advance clinical research and inform the best practices for clinical research to facilitate practice-changing research at AIIMS, addressing key Indian priorities in disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment.
The CRU works as a specialized biomedical research unit that supports the researchers in developing protocols, applying for funding, and implementing investigator-initiated clinical research in compliance with the global best practices. The CRU envisages but is not restricted to investigator-initiated clinical trials, cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies and studies evaluating diagnostic tests.
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses at AIIMS
AIIMS has adhered to a culture of supporting evidence-based practice and promoting the conduct and use of systematic reviews. The previous publication records have demonstrated the expertise and competencies in conducting systematic reviews and meta=-analyses. The faculty and students at AIIMS, New Delhi, have had consistent involvement with Cochrane over many years. It is pretty encompassing, involving many departments and interactions, ranging from leadership roles to conducting mentoring workshops. The spectrum of involvement is as below:
  • The Centre for Dental Education and Research, AIIMS is the Oral Health Global Alliance Partner with Cochrane Oral Health Group.
  • Many faculty members from Departments of Pediatrics, Biostatistics, Nuclear Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, Gastroenterology, Community Medicine, Anatomy, Neuro-anesthesia, Ophthalmology, and Dental Sciences have been involved with Cochrane systematic reviews.
  • Faculty members from Neurology and Pediatrics have been Editors for the Cochrane review board for the relevant sub-topics.
  • AIIMS has also been conducting training in the conduct of systematic reviews and meta-analyses for many years.
Proposed activities of the Centre
The activities at AIIMS align with the strategic goals of Cochrane, which include capacity building, generating evidence, making it accessible, and advocating it in community. The following activities can be carried out at AIIMS:
  • Capacity building of the faculty members of the Institute as well as other medical colleges by conducting workshops/ online courses on evidence-based medicine, Cochrane review and meta-analysis
  • Mentoring interested faculty, students and other institutes in the conduct of Cochrane review and evidence synthesis
  • Broader dissemination of the Cochrane reviews through National Societies
  • Imparting awareness on how to use Cochrane reviews in day-to-day clinical practice
  • Presenting the evidence in the health ministry and other relevant forums
  • Networking with other Affiliate centres and institutes to promote evidence-based medicine
Team
  • Prof. M. Srinivas, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Prof. J S Titiyal, Dean (Research), AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Prof. Govind Makharia, Associate Dean (Research), AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Prof. Vijay Prakash Mathur, Professor & Head, Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, CDER, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Prof. Vineet Ahuja, Professor, Gastroenterology and Human nutrition, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Prof. Rakesh Lodha, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Prof. Sameer Bakshi, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Prof. Sumit Malhotra, Professor, Department of Community Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Pooja Gupta, Addl. Professor, Department of Pharmacology, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. M Jeeva Shankar, Addl. Professor, Department of Paediatrics, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Saurabh Kedia, Additional Professor, Gastroenterology and Human nutrition, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. M Kalaivani, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Kunaal Dhingra, Additional Professor of Periodontics, CDER, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Dr. Prabhat Kumar Chaudhari, Additional Professor of Orthodontics, CDER, AIIMS, New Delhi
  • Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Scientist-II, Epidemiology, CRU, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Kamalesh Kumar Patel, Scientist-II, Health Economics, CRU,AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Ashish Datt Upadhyay, Scientist-II, Biostatistics, CRU, AIIMS, New Delhi.
  • Dr. Sanjukta Sarkar, Scientist-II, Health Economics, CRU,AIIMS, New Delhi.