CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu organised a health check-up camp under Phenome India, a CSIR Health Cohort Knowledge Base (PI-CHeCK) initiative for the staff & pensioners of the institute and their spouses. Being implemented by all the CSIR institutions across India, the significant objectives of this initiative are to ensure Swasth Bharat, Viksit Bharat through a data-driven approach to health, wellness and precision medicine. Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM inaugurated this four-day health check-up camp, aimed at comprehensive health assessments for CSIR-IIIM staff, pensioners, and their spouses.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Ahmed highlighted the significance of this national mission initiated by the CSIR, under the mentorship of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, MoS in the PMO, Deptt. of Space and Atomic Energy and Vice President CSIR. “This is a Pan-India programme being conducted across CSIR’s network of 37 laboratories nationwide,” Dr. Zabeer Ahmed stated. “The PI-CHeCK initiative is designed to build a comprehensive health cohort by integrating state-of-the-art AI/ML models with large-scale health data, thereby laying the foundation for precision medicine tailored to the Indian population. The data will also aid in the discovery of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for various diseases impacting our citizens.”

Following the inauguration, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed visited the testing stations set up for the event, reviewed the arrangements, and interacted with the PI-CHeCK team and volunteers, encouraging active participation throughout the four-day sampling programme. The camp is expected to involve around 200 voluntary participants from CSIR-IIIM, Jammu.

In a press handout, it was revealed that the health assessments include a wide range of diagnostic tests such as Transient elastography (FibroScan), Heart Health: Electrocardiogram (ECG), Lung Function: Spirometry and Oscillometry, Biochemistry Panels: Liver Function Test (LFT), Kidney Function Test (KFT), Complete Blood Count (CBC), Lipid Profile, Dietary Assessment and Prakriti assessment by ayurvedic practitioners.

The PI-CHeCK camp at CSIR-IIIM Jammu is being coordinated by Dr. Sumit G. Gandhi, Senior Principal Scientist and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division, CSIR-IIIM, and Dr. Ankita Sahu, Project Scientist, CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB), assisted by Yogesh Kumar and Subhash Gurjar from CSIR-IGIB. The overall programme is being led under the supervision of Dr. Shantanu Sengupta, Chief Scientist at CSIR-IGIB and Principal Investigator of the PI-CHeCK project.

The organizing team from CSIR-IIIM includes active involvement from Dr. Saurabh Saran, Dr. Rajendra Bhanwaria, Dr. Kuljit Singh, Sanjay Sharma, as well as Heads of Divisions: Er. Abdul Rahim, Dr. Asha Chaubey, Dr. Shashank Singh, Dr. Dhiraj Vyas, Dr. Naveed Qazi and Dr. Rajkishor Rai. The program is being organized under the overall supervision and patronage of Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM.