In a landmark event, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham has received the unique distinction of being inducted into Stanford University School of Medicine’s SPARK Global Program. Joining through its School of Biotechnology, Amrita is the first Indian institution to be accorded this distinguished recognition.
SPARK is a unique partnership between university and industry to advance research discoveries for drug and diagnostic development. Its vision is to accelerate new findings from laboratories to patients around the world. The purpose is to provide the education and guidance necessary to bridge the gap between early-stage programs that may still come across failures, no matter how promising the science.
Dr. Bipin Nair, Professor at the Amrita School of Biotechnology and Dean of Amrita’s Life Sciences, expressed that the induction into SPARK Global provides a wonderful opportunity to enhance ongoing original research in diverse areas of healthcare and clinical research. It also supports exploring potential avenues for mutually beneficial research collaboration, with SPARK Global member institutions and laboratories worldwide.
SPARK operates as a non-profit organisation that supports high-quality translational projects and solutions based on excellent science, addressing high-priority unmet clinical needs. The primary objective is to foster research carried out in academia, with close mentoring from volunteering industry scientists and experts. This includes seeking sources of funding to support initial efforts.
Dr. Daria Mochly-Rosen, Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine, founded SPARK in 2006 as a cost-effective model to generate proof of concept using industry standards. It further improves human health by uniting academics and industry experts to generate an efficient, effective and exciting pathway for translation of innovative discoveries.
Dr. Daria Mochly-Rosen said that SPARK Global began as a grassroots initiative at Stanford University and has since inspired similar grassroots initiatives around the globe. Today, SPARK partners have launched 25 startups, received $30 million in funding, achieved 10 awards, and initiated 25 clinical trials.
The focus is that early research is often unlikely to attract interest from industry until they have reached significant milestones, and very little funding is available from the government, foundations, or private enterprise for this critical transition.
According to the SPARK Global Charter signed as an essential part of this arrangement, Dr. Maneesha Ramesh, Provost, Amrita University, and Dr. Bipin Nair will be joint Local Directors of the SPARK Global Program initiated at Amrita
