Introduction
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world. As early as in 1911, the Government of India set up the Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA) with the specific objective of sponsoring and coordinating medical research in the country. After independence, several important changes were made in the organisation and the activities of the IRFA. It was redesignated in 1949 as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) with considerably expanded scope of functions.
ICMR institutes
The 21 institutes of ICMR and several regional centres are dedicated to medical research in India. They are involved in basic and applied medical research to generate new drugs and therapies in context of Indian population.
1. National Jalma institute for Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases (NCJILOMD), Agra
2. National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad
3. National Center for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru
4. Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Center, (BMHRC), Bhopal
5. National Institute for Research in Environmental Health (NIREH), Bhopal
6. National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai
7. National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai
8. National Institute of Medical Statistics (NIMS), Delhi
9. National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), Delhi
10. National Institute of Pathology (NIP), Delhi
11. National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad (NIN),
12. National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata
13. Centre for Research in Medical Entomology (CRME), Madurai
14. National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH), Mumbai
15. National Institute of Immunohaemotology (NIIH), Mumbai
16. Enterovirus Research Centre (ERC), Mumbai
17. Institute of Cytology and Preventive Oncology (ICPO), Noida
18. Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna
19. National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune
20. National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune
21. Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), Pondicherry
