NCBS and NIMHANS launch Rohini Nilekani Centre for Brain and Mind

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

NIMHANS) in Bengaluru launched the Rohini Nilekani Centre for Brain and Mind (CBM) on Monday. Rohini Nilekani, who inaugurated the Centre, had provided a milestone-based grant of Rs 100 crore to the institute through her philanthropic organisation in March this year. The Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RMP) will fund CBM operations for five years, from April 2023.

CBM will focus on long-term examination of environmental and genetic factors involved in brain development which underlie mental illnesses. NCBS will employ around 100 more people for this centre. “We are confident that these are the best institutes to carry such a project ahead,” said Nilekani.

She also praised the institutes for ensuring most of the findings of the centre will be open-source, so that researchers everywhere could benefit from them. Nilekani exhorted philanthropists everywhere to donate to mental health research. “Our institutions desperately need infusion of risk capital,” she said.

The centre will combine NCBS’ research with stem cell capabilities established at the Institute of Stem Cell Sciences and Regenerative Medicine (inStem-DBT), which is an autonomous institute under the central government’s department of biotechnology. “Government provides infrastructure and sets up systems. However, for long-term, high-risk projects, the value addition philanthropic capital provides plays a huge role.

A collaboration between government and philanthropic aid is important,” said J Chengalur, Director of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), which is the parent body of NCBS. The research will mainly focus on five disorders — schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction, obsessive compulsive disorder and dementia. “These illnesses have several