The discipline of ‘Molecular Medicine’ is a newly emerging area of biomedical sciences contributing in the understanding, prevention and cure of human diseases. The Special Centre for Molecular Medicine (SCMM) at Jawaharlal Nehru University is the first of its kind in India. The Centre will accomplish its goal through innovative and collaborative basic and clinical research programmes. To fulfil its goal the Centre has already initiated many collaborative research activities with medical institutes of international repute.

The objective of the SCMM is to foster teaching and research activities in the study of human diseases with application of advanced tools of molecular and cell biology. The SCMM has started the academic programmes to play a major role in training young scientists, clinical and non-clinical, keen to pursue careers in basic medical research. The training programme has been designed to create essentially two types of scientists who can contribute to the continuing progress of Medicine. Type one is the first and foremost a clinician with a basic clinical degree, but one who is familiar with and understands the essence of modern biology at the molecular level as applied to medicine. The second is a modern biologist, but one who is sufficiently knowledgeable in medicine to deal productively with the medical problems so that they would be able to deliver product or processes to the society. For successful implementation of these objectives, SCMM has started the following programmes of study.

To encourage the medical graduates and students from basic sciences the centre has introduced Pre-Ph.D. and Direct Ph.D. Programmes in Molecular Medicine and is pursuing research activities in the following thrust areas :-

A) Metabolic Disorders (diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases, reproductive disorders, steroid       receptors and cancer, parkinson’s disease).

B)   Infectious Diseases (Malaria, hepatitis C, Leishmaniasis, Helicobactor pathogenesis, Candidiasis).

C) Diagnostics (Genetic profiling of pathogenic fungus and development of genetic tools to identify       pathogenic organisms).

The selected students will have the option to choose his / her research area depending on their merits / aptitude and according to the vacancy available.