The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) have jointly introduced the ‘SMART 2.0’ program, which stands for “Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research among Teaching professionals.” This initiative aims to facilitate robust clinical studies in priority areas of Ayurveda by fostering collaboration with Ayurveda academic institutions and hospitals nationwide.
Prof (Vd) Rabinarayan Acharya, Director General of CCRAS, highlighted that the study’s focus lies in assessing the safety, tolerability, and adherence to Ayurveda formulations in priority research areas such as Bal Kasa, Malnutrition, Insufficient lactation, Abnormal Uterine Bleeding, Osteoporosis in post-menopausal women, and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) II.
CCRAS, operating under the Ministry of Ayush, serves as the apex organization for formulating, coordinating, developing, and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayurveda. The primary objective of ‘SMART 2.0’ is to generate tangible evidence demonstrating the efficacy and safety of Ayurveda interventions through interdisciplinary research methods, translating these findings into public healthcare. Building on the success of ‘SMART 1.0,’ which covered around 10 diseases with active participation from teaching professionals in 38 colleges, the new program seeks to expand and enhance collaborative research activities.
Ayurveda academic institutions interested in participating in collaborative research can express their interest by submitting the required information in the prescribed format, available on the CCRAS website: http://ccras.nic.in/sites/default/files/Notices/02012024_SMART.pdf. Questions or queries can be directed to ccrassmart2.0[at]gmail[dot]com, copying president.boa@ncismindia.org, before the deadline of 10th January.