DHR - Multi-Disciplinary Research Unit

The Multi-Disciplinary Research Unit (MRU) was established at Coimbatore Medical College in 2014 to align with the objectives of the Department of Health Research (Government of India, New Delhi) in promoting medical research to enhance public health outcomes. A Local Research Advisory Committee (LRAC) was formed in 2016, and since then, three LRAC meetings have been conducted. A total of 33 research projects from various departments—including Anatomy, Biochemistry, Cardiology, Community Medicine, Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy (DVL), Diabetology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopedics, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Physiology, and Radiation Oncology—were approved, of which 21 have been completed and 12 are ongoing, spanning research areas such as Cytogenetics (1), Molecular Biology (10), and  Hematology (1). The MRU has also undertaken two multi-centric projects: one completed (on the association of DNA methylation in peripheral blood with diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancers in collaboration with Bharathiar University, Coimbatore) and one ongoing (an artificial intelligence-based tool for detecting breast and oral cancers in collaboration with the National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi). Additionally, three self-funded research projects have been initiated by faculty from the Institute of Orthopedics and Traumatology. The MRU has extended technical support to 18 postgraduate students for their academic research and has assisted in the preparation of 81 ICMR STS proposals for MBBS students, with 21 projects accepted to date and another 30 currently under review.