Chennai: India’s first Single Cell Omics Translational (SCOT) Research Laboratory was inaugurated today at IIT Madras, marking a significant development in the country’s efforts to strengthen precision healthcare and translational research. The facility has been created through a CSR grant of Rs. 10.83 crore from Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC) and is housed within the Department of Medical Sciences and Technology.

The SCOT Lab is equipped to support research at a detailed cellular level, enabling early diagnosis, disease prognosis, biomarker discovery, and drug screening across conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infectious and inflammatory disorders, metabolic issues, and other non-communicable diseases. Its infrastructure is expected to speed up advancements in single-cell biology and contribute to the development of personalised treatment approaches.

The inauguration was attended by IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti, Member Finance of the Ministry of Railways Usha Venugopal, IRFC Chairman and Managing Director Manoj Kumar Dubey, and senior faculty members Ashwin Mahalingam, Boby George, Krishna Kumar, and Anubama Rajan, who is coordinating the project.

V. Kamakoti said the lab will drive ‘Make in India’ efforts in healthcare, adding that it will enhance the ability to develop solutions for targeted therapeutics and next-generation healthcare innovation.

Manoj Kumar Dubey said IRFC remains committed to supporting advanced research.

The new facility will also serve as a national training hub, preparing upcoming experts in single-cell transcriptomics and translational medicine. The collaboration between IIT Madras and IRFC is expected to strengthen India’s precision medicine ecosystem and expand research that connects engineering with medical sciences.

BI Bureau