Structure and Plans – TSB

Structure and Plans

The Department of Biology

The department of biology provides a stimulating and collaborative environment for foundational and multidisciplinary education and research. Intellectual, personal, and professional growth is emphasized, with opportunities to innovate in education, undertake research at different scales of biological organization, as well as to take up local and global challenges via applied research.

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Applied research

Applied research at TSB is broadly organized into two thematic clusters corresponding to zoomed out and zoomed in views of biomedicine. The first cluster is centered around One Health, an integrated view of sustainably balanced and optimized health of humans, plants, animals, and environmental ecosystems. The second cluster is centered around a finely resolved molecular understanding of living cells and organisms, leading to advances in precision wellness. Internally and externally funded Centers, with stakeholders from multiple departments, are tasked with such applied research. 

Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART)

CHART is a joint initiative of TSB and the Department of Computer Science, which is focused on the use of biomedical data generated during research, healthcare, and public services, towards better understanding, models, and policies. Some of the ongoing efforts are:

• Use of electronic medical records from inpatient and outpatient data, using privacy preserving methods, to better understand the course of diabetes and hypertension, as well as the response to treatment.
  Collaborative partners: MyHealthcare, Max Healthcare.
• Modeling of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
  Collaborative partners – Max Healthcare, Sahyadri Hospital.
• Modeling of dengue outbreaks
  Funded by Rockefeller Foundation
• Understanding SARS CoV2 evolution
  Collaborative partner – IGIB.
• Governance of health data and applications of artificial intelligence in health.
  Collaborative partner – IDAIR 
• Digital transformation for health and convergence of genomic and information technologies in public health.
  Collaborative partner – Governing Health Futures 2030
• Development of mobile sequencing labs using pore-based sequencing and cloud based analytical workflows, for integrated genomic surveillance.
  Collaborative partner – CSIR-IGIB, funded by Wellcome Trust

Centre for Research on Wellness and Nutrition (CROWN)

Data for better understanding of wellness and disease is often lacking. CROWN aims to identify and fill critical data gaps in our understanding of wellness, including mental health, and its determinants. Prospective cohorts, non-communicable diseases, and management of wellness via nutrition, wearables, and digital health services are of particular interest. Some of the ongoing efforts are:

1. Development of cohorts from preventive screening subjects, studying life-course of low birthweight children and nutritional strategies to minimize adverse consequences.

Collaborative partner – Delhi University, funded by India Alliance.

1. Observational studies using continuous glucose monitoring to understand differential glycemic response to foods.
2. Observational studies using wearable digital devices to measure health, determine lifestyle contributors, and study effectiveness of interventions such as yoga and meditation.

Precision Biology Centre (PBC)

Precision Biology is the foundation of precision medicine. PBC brings together strengths across multiple departments to create novel assays and analytical methods to advance fundamental biology and translational discovery.

1. Magnetic tweezer 
2. Cellular Immunology Assays

Centre for Glycans and Metabolic Programming (cGMP)

While proteins are widely seen as the main effectors for living systems, the role of small metabolites, peptides, lipids, and complex sugars has been mostly overlooked. cGMP aims to collaboratively build capacity in the area of cellular metabolism studies, metabolomics, lipidomics, and glycomics for applications in immunity, infections, and cancer