ICRI to invest Rs 35 cr in expansions

The Institute of Clinical Research, (ICRI) plans to invest around Rs 35 crore this year on restarting its Dehradun campus and upgrading its communication network.

It will set up a video conferencing network to connect all its national and international campuses, besides increasing the capacities of its Singapore and UK campuses.

“We have a batch of 120 students in the Singapore and UK campuses this year and the capacity will double next year. This will require an investment of almost Rs 25 crore,” said Shiv Raman Dugal, chairman ICRI.

The institute, which had closed its Dehradun campus sometime back because of faculty shortage, had started its Hyderabad campus last year and now plans to start its Chennai campus. ICRI has campuses in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Dehradun, UK and Singapore.

 

It has tied up with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) to offer new courses and through this partnership ICRI will setup the video conferencing network. The institute plans to offer 30 per cent of teaching exercises through this technology. MUSC will offer ICRI access to its library, course material and degrees so that students can login to month-old lessons and lectures.

“More than foreign tie-ups, we are looking at collaborating with the industry to produce employable youth. Hence, we have collaborated with Accenture to jointly develop a pharmacovigilance and clinical research programme customised to meet the growing industry requirements of the thriving sector,” added Dugal.

The programme will enroll 300 students across ICRI’s Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore centres and span across 6-12 months. The fee will be Rs 2.5 lakh and will cover four modules: basics of clinical research, pharmacology, pharmacovigilance and regulations; case processing; aggregate report; risk management in pharmacovigilance and signal detection. A certification will be issued by ICRI in association with Accenture to succesful candidates.