UPES report · 1. Health research
UPES researchers publish widely on health, from cancer and infectious disease to AI diagnostics and drug discovery. These figures cover UPES research publications on health (source: Scopus).
UPES research is reaching patients and policy: from global disease estimates used by governments, to a low-cost cancer screening device for women in remote villages.
Number of health papers on each theme (a paper can appear under more than one).
| Theme | Papers |
|---|---|
| Cancer | 277 |
| Infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance | 272 |
| AI and digital health | 166 |
| Drug discovery and delivery | 114 |
| Environment and health | 114 |
| Mental health and neuroscience | 84 |
| Diabetes and metabolic disease | 79 |
| Women's and maternal health | 77 |
| Cardiovascular health | 35 |
| Nutrition and food | 27 |
UPES researchers contribute to the Global Burden of Disease studies in The Lancet and other leading journals. The most cited papers are:
The full list of publications, with links, is in the annexure.
Dr Nidhi Chauhan and her team in the School of Health Sciences and Technology won a BIRAC grant to set up the SWACHH (Social Wellness, Agriculture, Clean and Hospitable Habitat) Incubation Centre, the first SPARSH-BIRAC centre in Uttarakhand. Over five years it will mentor young social innovators building affordable prototypes in public health, climate resilience and farm-to-plate food.
PhD scholar Reema Rawat and Prof Ashish Mathur developed a low-cost portable device that screens for cervical cancer, funded by the Department of Science and Technology, so women in remote areas without advanced hospitals can be tested. Reema also built an ultrasensitive sensor for the HER-2 breast cancer biomarker, published in Nanoscale (2025), which won a UPES PhD Spotlight Award, and she received the FABA Young Innovator Award 2024.
Prof Padma Venkat, Dean of the School of Health Sciences and Technology, uses traditional herbs and fruits to address anaemia and nutrition. Her work also includes a copper-based water purification device and training rural women in green technologies, safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
Dr Manisha Mohan's PhD, supervised by Dr Naveen Kumar, showed how immersive media and game-based learning can build empathy among nursing professionals in India. It won the UPES PhD Best Thesis Award.
Prof Ashwini K. Nangia, Dean of Research and Development, received the Visitor's Award for Research 2023 for developing pharmaceutical cocrystals that make drugs more soluble and effective at lower cost. The approach suits India's generic drug industry and supports affordable treatment for diabetes, heart disease and cancer, with several candidates in the clinical pipeline.
Four School of Health Sciences and Technology researchers won ANRF Early Career Research Grants in 2025 for health projects (R&D Newsletter Jan–Jun 2025[3]).
An AI-powered wearable for early detection of menstrual disorders such as PCOS and endometriosis, to be validated in clinical trials.
An affordable point-of-care nano-biosensor for early detection of diabetes and heart attack (acute myocardial infarction).
Dual PDE1B/PDE10A inhibitors as new drug candidates for schizophrenia, targeting symptoms current medicines treat poorly.
Nanoparticles that activate MLK3 in the heart to prevent heart failure caused by high blood pressure.
In UPES's mapping of its intellectual property to the Sustainable Development Goals, Good Health and Well-being is the fourth-largest of the ten goals the portfolio covers, after industry and innovation, affordable and clean energy, and sustainable cities (UPES R&D, December 2025).
The School of Health Sciences and Technology trains the professionals that hospitals, laboratories and the pharmaceutical industry need. Its programmes span pharmacy, nutrition, laboratory science, operation-theatre technology, biotechnology and healthcare management.
| Level | Programmes |
|---|---|
| Undergraduate | B.Pharm.; B.Sc.; Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (BND); B.Tech.; Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (B.MLS); Bachelor of Anaesthesia and Operation Theatre Technology (B.AOTT) |
| Postgraduate | M.Sc.; MBA in Healthcare Management |
| Doctoral | PhD in Health Sciences |
| International pathway | A 5-year accelerated MD pathway with the Medical University of the Americas, announced in July 2025 |
Faculty development keeps teaching current: from 26 to 30 May 2025, 32 faculty completed a five-day programme on healthcare analytics with SAS Institute India.
In 2024–25, faculty development programmes on artificial intelligence in health care drew 842 participations from faculty across UPES.
| Programme | Dates | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| Deep Learning and Optimization for Healthcare | 24 February – 4 March 2025 | 265 |
| Artificial Intelligence for Image Processing and Medical Applications | 3–7 March 2025 | 215 |
| Empowering Smart Healthcare with Deep Learning: From Data to Diagnosis (first run) | 9–13 June 2025 | 148 |
| Empowering Smart Healthcare with Deep Learning: From Data to Diagnosis (second run) | 9–29 June 2025 | 150 |
| Advancing Healthcare with Explainable AI | 23–30 June 2025 | 64 |
| Healthcare Analytics and Life Sciences with SAS | 26–30 May 2025 | 32 |
| Lecture | Date | Participants |
|---|---|---|
| UPES Health Sciences Talk Series: "One Health Research: From Ecosystem to Sustainability", Dr Veeranoot Nissapatorn | 2 August 2024 | 100 |
| "AMR and its Impact" (antimicrobial resistance), Dr Abu Rehan | 21 November 2024 | 100 |
| Masterclass "Immunotherapy: A Century of Antibodies", Dr Srini Kaveri | 21 November 2024 | 100 |
Source: UPES Annual Report 2024–25[12]