India

St. John's Research Institute (SJRI)

The St. John's Research Institute (SJRI) in Bengaluru, India is a part of St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences, which includes a Medical College, a 1500 bed multi-speciality hospital, and a College of Nursing. SJRI’s mission is to make a significant impact on health through basic science and clinical research, promotion of evidence-based health care, and population health research initiatives. SJRI has an extensive collaborative network of both government and non-governmental organizations in both urban and rural settings and has developed several clinical sites in these locations for research collaborations.

SJRI has a diverse set of research focus areas, including epidemiology and population health, nutrition, infectious diseases, medical informatics, mental health, molecular medicine and health and humanities. Faculty in each of these divisions have extensive experience facilitating and mentoring both domestic and international students.  

In 2002, Drs. M. Ekstrand (UCSF) T. Raj, K.Srinivasan and S. Chandy (SJRI) began their NIH-funded research collaboration that has included five observational cohort studies and clinical trials in both infectious and non-communicative diseases, focusing primarily on HIV and mental health. The collaboration's research also explores the use of technology to solve health problems in resource-poor settings using mHealth, remote bio-monitoring of neonatal temperature, and development of point-of-care diagnostic devices.  Future planned research projects will include research on COVID-19 and sequalae, cancer biology, digital health interventions and elder care and nutrition research in micronutrients, protein digestibility, and body composition.

SJRI conducts several training programs in research methodology annually. It is equipped with state-of-art laboratories, facilities and research equipment and has been recognized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations as a Nutrition Collaborating Centre since 2010. SJRI has a grants management office, and the Institute Ethics Committee is registered with the Office of Human Research Protection.  Housing for visiting students is located within campus and caters to domestic and international students.   

In addition to the joint research infrastructure, the UCSF-SJRI collaboration has resulted in several joint pre and postdoctoral training programs. The UCSF-SJRI collaboration has supported the training of medical students from UCSF, UC Berkeley predoctoral students, and GloCal fellows.

Site Contact: Dr. Tony Raj

Public Health Research Institute of India (PHRII)

The Public Health Research Institute of India (PHRII) is an independent scientific research institute located in Mysore, promoting healthcare access, quality of life, and well-being for women and children through research, training, advocacy, and care. PHRII’s mission is to ensure that Indian women irrespective of class, religion, and socioeconomic status, receive comprehensive non-judgmental reproductive healthcare. PHRII’s vision is to improve women’s health through evidence-based care and to create an equitable society where all women have access to the benefits of good health.

Founded as a non-profit charitable trust in 2007, PHRII has been recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization by the Government of India. Its services are provided in urban, peri-urban, rural and tribal areas of Mysore district. Currently, PHRII has more than twenty staff working to improve the health of the women. It also operates a full-time laboratory with biochemistry, microbiology and molecular services. There is an administrative core for grant support, and a community department that provides education and awareness programs to support ongoing research and services. PHRII has more than 5,000 sq. ft with office space, conference rooms, a training centre, and a teleconferencing facility.

PHRII also operates the Prerana Reproductive Health Clinic offering outpatient services for family planning, reproductive healthcare and cancer prevention to low-income communities. In addition, it operates mobile clinics providing reproductive healthcare in a rural catchment area of more than 144 villages and tribal hamlets in Mysore District. PHRII has been collaborating with important stakeholders like Rotary Mysore on another important objective: reducing the burden and death toll from cervical cancer. PHRII focuses on building strong ongoing collaborations with communities and the National Rural Health Mission to ensure that all projects are sustainable with effective coordination. PHRII has served as a training site for undergraduates, graduate doctoral and post-doctoral fellows in collaboration with several US and other universities around the world. As a NIH training site, PHRII has hosted postdocs, predocs, and students from different backgrounds.

Site Contact: Dr. Vijaya Srinivas