Indian Institute of integrative Medicine, Jammu a constituent unit of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, New Delhi, is one of the premier Institutes engaged in two major areas of research namely, Drug, Design and Development and Microbial Biotechnology. The Institute was established in 1941 as a low key research and production centre known as Drug Research Laboratory of J&K State and was later taken over by CSIR on 1st December 1957. The Institute was lucky to have Col. Sir Ram Nath Chopra, Professor of Pharmacology as its Founder Director. He was an outstanding luminary in the field of Medical Education and Research and has been widely acclaimed as the Father of Indian Pharmacology.

The idea of setting up of the Drug Research Laboratory was conceived in January 1940 by Col. Sir Ram Nath Chopra, Director, School of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta, the then Chief Minister of J&K State, Sir N. Gopala Swamy Iyenger and Sir Sri Ram, a leading Industrialist after an investiture ceremony held in Delhi at which all the three were knighted by the British Government. The basic aim of setting up of this Institute was to gainfully exploit the biodiversity of the Himalayas and put the state on the scientific map of India and the world. As a follow up action, Sir P.H. Clutterbuck, the then Chief Conservator of Forests J&K Govt. and Col. Sir R. N. Chopra were mainly instrumental in the birth of Drug Research Laboratory in November 1941, which was involved in manufacture of selected drugs and also research in the specialized disciplines of Botany, Chemistry, Pharmacology of medicinal and aromatic plants.

The objectives of the Institute widened and research programmes related to utilization of all the natural resources were taken up, may these be of biological or mineral origin. Thus Drug Research Laboratory evolved into Regional Research Laboratory in December 1957 when it was taken over by the CSIR. In view of its core strength in natural products based drug discovery, the mandate of Institute was redefined in 2005 and its name changed to Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM). The current mandate of IIIM is to discover new drugs and therapeutic approaches from Natural Products, both of plant and microbial origin, enabled by biotechnology, to develop technologies, drugs and products of high value for the national and international markets.

Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu , like all other Institutes was designed to be a multidisciplinary Institute with emphasis on applied and developmental aspects to suit the regional aspirations. We changed our focal point of activities as per the demand of the changing times and developed our competence accordingly to direct our efforts effectively. This institute has come up to the expectations of the monitoring and other supporting agencies over the years and has been keeping up with the Nation's think-tank. The Institute has always kept the futuristic trends in science in view and created the infrastructure as well as human resource to face the new challenges.

Presently the Institute is headed by Dr. Ram A Vishwakarma with research interests in Chemistry and Biology of Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) cell-surface molecules, Synthetic chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry and Glycobiology. Dr. Vishwakarma, has taken over as Director of Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu in March 2009. He succeeds Dr. G. N. Qazi after his retirement from the post.

Currently the activities of IIIM have become more focused with following Vision, Mission & guiding principles.

Vision

To position IIIM as the center of excellence for natural products chemistry, chemical biology, pharmacology and biotechnology to discover new chemical entities (NCEs) as drugs for unmet medical needs and provide scientific rationale and validity to various Indian systems of medicine. The institute aspires to achieve leadership position as a research Institute for creating a broad knowledge base, a work force of dedicated and trained scientists and a technology development center through scientific exploration of secondary metabolites from plants and microbial biodiversity, at the same time generating awareness for their conservation and protection.

Mission

Aim to be a World class research institute for natural products based drug discovery. Discovery of new natural product probes for cell biology and immunology. Provide scientific basis for integration of Indian systems of medicine with “evidence-based” pharmacology. Focus natural products resources towards clinically validated targets (cancer, inflammation, diabetes and infections) and areas with unmet medical need (neglected diseases). Use the power and synergy of synthetic chemistry and molecular biology to engineer biosynthetic pathways of drug like molecules in plants and microbes.

Guiding Principles

Scientific excellence. Integration of principles of chemistry & biology for discovery of new drugs and therapeutic approaches. Provide conducive working environment to the scientific colleagues to achieve international level of competitive success and recognition. Highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct.

We are also committed to work on societal programmes meant for the upliftment of under privileged class of rural poor.

For additional information see: www.iiim.res.in