AIIMS, ISRO join hands for space medicine research | India News
New Delhi: India’s push for manned spaceflight is taking the country’s top medical institute on a mission The All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Human Space Flight Center on Monday signed an agreement to collaborate on space medicine, opening the door to research into how the human body behaves in space – and how those insights could improve healthcare on Earth.The collaboration establishes a framework for ground-based and space-based research in areas including human physiology, cardiovascular and autonomic regulation, microgravity, microbiome and immunology, genomics and biomarkers, and behavioral health.Explaining the medical significance of such research, Prof. KK Deepak, former head of the Department of Physiology AIIMSResearch into how the human body behaves in space can also help doctors better understand diseases on Earth, he said. “In microgravity, astronauts experience muscle wasting, bone weakening, and fluid shifts in the body—changes that resemble accelerated aging. Studying these processes helps scientists understand how aging affects muscles, bones, and circulation in humans on Earth,” he said.Technologies developed to combat these effects in astronauts, such as devices that improve blood flow to the legs, can also help treat patients with circulation problems and maintain muscle strength, he added.AIIMS Director Professor M Srinivas said this collaboration will open new frontiers in medical research. “This MOU will free us from entrepreneurship in space medicine. Research between AIIMS and the ISRO It will benefit the patient, the nation and ultimately mankind,” he said.Addressing the gathering, Narayanan outlined the journey of India’s space program from its early days—when rockets and equipment were transported using bicycles and bullock carts—to its current position as a global leader in space technology. He said that partnership with institutes like AIIMS will play an important role in strengthening India’s human spaceflight capability.The program also included an overview of AIIMS’ ongoing work in space medical research presented by Professor Deepak. Officials said the partnership marks a step towards strengthening India’s capabilities in human spaceflight and biomedical research as the country advances its space ambitions.The MoU was signed by AIIMS Director M. Srinivas and ISRO’s Human Space Flight Center Director Dinesh Kumar Singh, Chairman of ISRO and Secretary of the Department of Space, V. Narayanan, along with senior faculty and students of the institute.
