Jatni (Khurda): In a bid to add new dimension to the educational hub of Odisha along side of IIT, NISER and AIIMS, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday laid foundation stone of Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) University at Haridamada under Jatni assembly segment in the district here.
The university campus will be built in phases and will house the most sophisticated labs and teaching infrastructure making it a coveted platform to teach and learn for best talents from India and abroad.
AIPH was inaugurated in 2009 by Naveen Patnaik to bring the much needed expertise in various domains of public health to Odisha and the region. Several other courses at Master’s level were added and in 2018, AIPH received the Odisha State Assembly nod to become the first unitary public health university.
AIPH University will offer courses at BSc, MSc, and PhD level and various health-related management domains, said Dr J. Mahapatra, Vice Chancellor of AIPH University.
New research areas will include Cancer Epidemiology, cardio-vascular and chronic diseases, environmental exposures, big data analytics, and microbiome, according to Dr B.S. Das, Head of Research and Development.
World class research in neonatal and infant infections was launched from University of Maryland and headed by Prof Pinaki Panigrahi with funding from the National Institutes of Health, USA.
Community-based research conducted over 450 villages in Khurda and Sundargarh districts in partnership with the State Government led to drastic reduction of NMR and IMR in those districts.
Other programmes in birth asphyxia, malaria, water sanitation and hygiene, TB, and women’s health were added in collaboration with Duke University, UC Davis, Emory, and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Microsoft founder and world-renowned philanthropist Bill Gates and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had then tweeted on this path breaking discovery.
PNN