Union Minister of State for Science & Technology (Independent Charge), Dr. Jitendra Singh today addressed the ‘Cohort Connect National Conclave on Longitudinal Cohort Studies’ at CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, asserting that “India’s health in 2047 will be the key to Vikshit Bharat.” He said, India must now generate strong, long-term, India-specific health evidence to guide preventive and clinical decision-making.  “Indian treatment for Indian Patients, Indian prevention strategy for Indian subjects, Indian data for Indian solutions should be our mantra”, flagged Dr. Singh.

Highlighting the national cohort’s scope, he noted that it focuses on four critical determinants of health biological, environmental, genetic, and lifestyle factors, each shaped by the country’s extraordinary diversity in diet, environment, and genetic makeup. 
Dr. Singh explained that metabolic disorders in India often emerge as clusters of interconnected conditions and cannot be separated from the broader landscape of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Referring to the reciprocal link between tuberculosis and diabetes, he said India must move away from siloed disease responses. Drawing on decades of clinical experience, he remarked that the Indian phenotype carries a distinct metabolic vulnerability, a pattern observed even in Indians settled abroad for multiple generations. While such trends were known historically, he said large-scale scientific validation is now becoming possible through comprehensive cohort studies.
The Minister highlighted India’s rising strength in genomics and biomedical science, citing milestones such as large-scale genome sequencing and the country’s first indigenous clinical trial of Factor VIII for hemophilia. Cautioning that new therapies and modern drugs must be assessed through long-term data, he stressed that with nearly 70% of the population under 40, India must prioritize prevention, early intervention and technology-driven health solutions.
The Cohort Connect conclave brought together scientists, clinicians, public health experts, and cohort investigators from across the country to discuss the expanding landscape of longitudinal cohort research. The program featured sessions on PI-Check progress, multi-omics integration, digital health record systems, aging and dementia research, tribal health cohorts, maternal child health initiatives, cardio metabolic studies, exposome science, and India-specific risk prediction models reflecting the broad scientific effort advancing precision health in India.
Sessions across the conclave covered a wide range of themes from harmonized diagnostic assessments, kidney-disease cohorts and celiac-disease biorepositories to birth-outcome research under GARBH-Ini, preterm-birth genomics, the Birbhum Population Project and the CARRS cardiometabolic cohort. Discussions also drew insights from the ICMR-INDIAB study, the New Delhi Birth Cohort and national tribal-health initiatives. Panel discussions explored data sharing, ethics in cohort research and the evolving vision for India’s tribal cohorts, while industry partners highlighted emerging technologies, driving next-generation health research.
The conclave saw the presence of key institutional leaders, including Dr. Ramanuj Narayan (Director, CSIR-IMMT), Dr. Shouvik Maiti (Director, CSIR-IGIB), Dr. Vinay Nandiguri (Health Care Team Director, CSIR-CCMB) and Dr. Debasish Dash (Director, BRIC-ILS), along with senior scientists and officials from CSIR Headquarters and partnering institutions. Experts such as Dr. N.K. Ganguly, Dr. Krishna Reddy, Dr. Shantanu Sengupta, Dr. A.B. Dey, Dr. Vivekananda Jha and Dr. Nikhil Tandon led sessions on digital health interoperability, tribal cohort research, genomics, cardiometabolic disease patterns, maternal nutrition, data ethics and healthy ageing. 

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Swadhin/Manoj

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