Bengaluru, March 30, 2023: Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies has announced a grant of Rs. 100 Crores to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) to set up the ‘Centre for Brain and Mind’ (CBM). The Centre will further cutting-edge research to understand the causes, correlates, and course of five major illnesses - schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dementia, and addiction, and explore potential interventions and treatments for them.
As per the MoU, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies Foundation will support the activities of the CBM for five years starting April 2023. During this period, CBM will pursue long-term research as well as build further capacity for mental health research and practice.
Commenting on the grant, Rohini Nilekani, Chairperson, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, said, “Mental health is an area that demands more attention and support. The recent pandemic brought out this need even more starkly. Through this grant, I hope that a collaboration between two apex institutions of this country will provide globally relevant insights, evidence and pathways for better treatment for millions of people in India and the world. The Centre for Brain and Mind hopes to build an ecosystem for the larger community of mental health practitioners. Its research on five critical disorders, which will no doubt be pathbreaking, will be open-sourced to allow more innovation in both academics and practice. I wish the Centre all success and hope it becomes a global hub for sharing knowledge in the years to come.”
Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies Foundation (RNPF) is a grant-making organisation seeking to create and strengthen communities for their own betterment. RNPF is founded by Rohini Nilekani, a committed philanthropist, and currently, the Chairperson of the Foundation. Rohini and her husband, Nandan Nilekani, are signatories to the Giving Pledge, pledging to give away half of their wealth to philanthropy.
Speaking about the potential of this grant, Dr. Pratima Murthy, Director, NIMHANS, said that the grant will help NIMHANS expand its important research activities in mental health. “NIMHANS has been collaborating with NCBS and inStem to study a large number of families of patients with severe mental illnesses and generate a longitudinal cohort. The in-depth biological and clinical assessment of this cohort has immense potential for breakthrough discoveries, with implications in turn for translation into better care for persons with mental illnesses. We are delighted to house at NIMHANS the Centre for Brain and Mind, which will allow us to expand this important research. We are thankful to Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies for supporting this long-term and visionary initiative.”
Speaking on the grant support, Prof. LS Shashidhara, Director, NCBS-TIFR, said, “NCBS-TIFR, along with NIMHANS and inStem, has built a platform to facilitate discovery science that leads to better solutions for mental illness. This grant will enable us to pursue long-term research on patients. This will allow insights into mental illness and how it develops and impacts brain function. Such understanding will enable the development of novel medicines. We are grateful to Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies for their generous grant to boost our research.”
According to the officials, the new grant will strengthen the existing practices; allow the database and repository to become open source to ensure full utilisation by scientists all over the world. CBM’s work will entail better methods of public engagement to reduce stigma and enhance awareness, addressing causes that lead to vulnerability in developing mental illness and ameliorate the progression of disease. By developing a core group of clinician researchers and scientists, the Centre will also establish a pipeline of younger researchers to carry forward this long-term enquiry.
