Amity, CCRUM Collaborate On Unani Medicine

Dr Zaheer Ahmad, Director General of the Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) and his team visited Amity University Noida to renew collaboration and foster mutual growth in research in Unani Medicine. The visit included Dr RP Meena, Asst. Director in Chemistry, Dr Pawan Kumar Yadav, OSD & Researcher in Pathology, Dr Gazala Javed, Research Officer in Botany and Dr Shaista Urooj.

Dr Zaheer Ahmad, Director General, Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), averred “The government has attached immense importance to herbal medicine and India is the treasure trove of herbal plants. Under the Integrated Health Policy 2023, the aim is to bring out the best practices from the Indian System of Medicine and research, education, clinical practice and public health are the key focus areas of this Policy. Today, we are at Amity to identify the areas of collaboration where both organisations can work together and do extensive research in the field of Unani medicine. Teamwork and a mutually supportive system will expand the landscape of the Indian Medicine System since Unani Medicine is being practiced in 82 countries of the world and the opportunities are unlimited. Research and innovation along with commercialisation of projects which have significant outcomes should be taken forward to take Unani medicine to greater heights.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr W Selvamurthy, President of Amity Science Technology and Innovation Foundation, averred, “Amity has closely worked with CCRUM in the areas of integrative health research, clinical practice, cancer, public health, innovative research outcomes, yoga, commercialisation of patents, joint research projects and research publications in high-impact journals and enhancing the global understanding of Unani Medicine through all means of collaborative scientific endeavours and validation.”

On this occasion, project ‘Dawa-Ul Kurkum’ was presented by Dr Manoj Garg, Associate Professor & Ramalingaswami Fellow, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR) and Dr Maryam Sarwat, Senior Assistant Professor, Amity Institute of Pharmacy. 

In addition, a presentation on ‘Centre of Excellence in Modern Biology and Therapeutics of Unani Medicine’ was also made by Dr Nilanjana Basu, Faculty Amity Institute of Indian System of Medicine, along with discussions on potential proposed projects by Amity faculty and aspects of commercialisation of CCRUM patents.

The delegation visited several Amity Labs, including the Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research Lab, Amity Institute of Biotechnology Lab, Amity Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Amity Innovation Incubator. They were joined by Dr Gopal Bhushan, Deputy Director General of ADSI, Dr Neeraj Sharma, Deputy Director General of AFSTIA, Dr Nutan Kaushik, Director General of Amity Food & Agriculture Foundation and Dr S K Srivastava, Mentor of Amity Institute of Indian System of Medicine.