(gentle music)
>> Woman: India ranks number one in tuberculosis,
number one in cervical cancer deaths,
and among the highest malnutrition in the world,
and yet, it's among the leaders in software innovation,
mathematics, physics, astronomy.
It's just that there's been a huge barrier,
bureaucratic as well as financial,
that has prevented the healthcare space
and the medical discovery space to really bloom.
>> Today, we are heading towards patient's house.
(speaking in foreign language)
Patients are very, very happy that we can do something,
we can bring some facilities to their doorsteps.
(honking)
>> The Indo-US Clinical Research and Education Partnership
started with a single NIH grant to study
maternal-infant HIV transmission.
>> In Pune, in 1991, 1992, HIV was very, very new.
There was a lot of stigma,
there wasn't a lot of attention paid to it,
and we established the first clinics
to screen pregnant women for HIV,
giving them access after the diagnosis to treatment,
which they wouldn't have had
if they hadn't been tested.
>> India has both the human talent,
has the patient populations who have great need,
and Hopkins has some of the expertise in study design,
that we come together and help each other
to address some of the global health challenges we have.
>> The mission of Indo-US Parternship is to conduct
high-quality, high-priority collaborative
research and education that tackles
the leading causes of death in India,
from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis,
HIV/AIDS, and anti-microbial resistance.
Our first study, which was a research question
that had never been studied,
conducted between 2002 and 2007,
was the first every phase three clinical trial in India
that addressed the prevention of mother to child
transmission of HIV.
>> When that trial showed we could reduce the
risk of transmission by almost 50%,
that got adopted by the World Health Organization Guideline,
and that means that we went from
just showing it in a few hundred women
to several hundreds of thousands of women around the world.
>> There's several studies that are running at
the clinical research site at any given point,
and every study has a unique research question,
so one of the challenges is to collect the data
from all the different studies,
and apply the proper statistical terminology
to answer the research question
the study's trying to answer.
One of the biggest improvements is
that we are able to capture data directly
onto the system, and have completely stopped using
paper case report forms.
That's a big advantage in terms of data collection.
>> So, this database specifically is a collection of
about 13,000 records.
>> When you have a huge data set like this
from a big program,
there are lots of things you could do with the data.
We were involved in helping provide training opportunities
for many people in India,
who are now some of the leading scientists
in the country.
Many of them are alumni of the Hopkins program.
>> What the program has helped us in
the building of the faculty.
These 40 fellows, they are working on 10 different
research topics.
Many of them are very innovative.
I would definitely say that it has helped our patients,
and at large, the society.
>> We learn as much from our colleagues in India,
certainly if not more than what we're
able to provide them.
>> Overall, the faculty's ability
have been exposed to world class research.
Also, they are getting the benefit of world class labs,
which we have set up here under this partnership.
>> As the head of the clinical unit, I'm looking after
the clinical care of the patients,
and research work run by the post-graduate students.
>> The medical students, as well as
the post-graduate students and the faculty
are getting exposed to the research culture.
>> We are becoming more methodical,
and more of an international standard research
is going on in this world.
>> The Institute has benefited a lot
by being now seen as a hub for clinical research,
not only in India, but also abroad.
A lot of other US cities are now collaborating with us,
or wanting to collaborate,
but the Hopkins remains the best,
and close to our heart.
>> Whether it be transmission of HIV,
or looking at what we could do to treat TB better,
we struggle both across the 10,000 mile gap
with the same issues.
>> Solutions that we come up together with
our colleagues in India for improving health outcomes
have great potential benefit beyond India,
even in our own society.
>> Amita Gupta: We want to see an improvement in healthcare
and outcomes for people living in India,
as well as those living around the world.
We will be one of the key players at the table
to eliminate TB, to work on elimination of HIV,
and other infectious diseases
that impact India and beyond.
>> There's both a need and a tremendous opportunity
to continue collaborations, international collaborations
between scientists in India,
scientists in the United States.
I think we have a model for how to do that.
India benefits, the whole world benefits.