The Cipla Foundation has partnered with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to support the establishment of a Centre for Pulmonary Medicine at the Tata IISc Medical School in Bengaluru, aimed at strengthening respiratory care, research, and training in India.
The proposed centre will provide comprehensive respiratory services, including diagnostics, outpatient and inpatient care, a dedicated intensive care unit (ICU), and high-dependency units, enabling the delivery of advanced treatment for a wide range of lung and respiratory disorders.
The Centre for Pulmonary Medicine is expected to play a key role in strengthening India’s respiratory health ecosystem by focusing on early diagnosis, advanced clinical research, and skill development. It will contribute to the development of India-specific clinical guidelines for conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease (ILD), and asthma.
In addition to clinical care, the centre will undertake research in biomarkers, pharmacogenomics, artificial intelligence-based lung diagnostics, and novel therapeutics, supporting innovation tailored to India’s disease burden.
The initiative will also focus on training pulmonologists and allied healthcare professionals, promoting knowledge exchange through workshops and international collaborations.
Community-focused programmes will form a core component of the centre’s activities, including early screening initiatives, air quality awareness campaigns, smoking cessation efforts, and preventive lung health programmes, with the aim of improving outcomes through early intervention and public education.
India continues to face a high burden of respiratory diseases, including COPD and asthma, driven by factors such as worsening air pollution, tobacco use, occupational exposure, and limited awareness. Access to specialised respiratory care and trained pulmonologists remains uneven, particularly outside major urban centres, posing challenges to timely diagnosis and treatment.
The collaboration between Cipla Foundation and IISc seeks to address these gaps by integrating patient care, training, and research, while expanding access to quality respiratory healthcare and building long-term capacity in the field of pulmonary medicine.
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