India; PI Denis Xavier, MD

Fellowship Site: India-Bangalore

St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences was started to train medical professionals at the highest level and at the same time with an orientation to serve the medically underserved areas of the country. The institutions at St. John’s namely the medical college and the nursing college are amongst the best in the country.

The St. John’s Research Institute is the first of its kind in the country with its own dedicated buildings [approximately 50,000 square feet and growing], staff [core leaders, 34 and a total staff strength of over 300] and facilities including state of the art laboratory equipment and clinical / community research facilities, Further the Clinical Trials Division runs its clinical research programs in over 140 sites in the country – the largest network of clinician researchers in the country.

The large hospital [1200 beds] offers excellent clinical material for training in tropical disease as well as in non-communicable disease. This is a preferred destination of medical students from North America and Europe for the last 20 years to complete their posting in tropical diseases and to experience medicine in a developing country. In addition we have several out reach community centers [especially Mugalur approx 25 miles and Palamner, approx 110 miles] where medical students both from St. John’s as well as those from other countries use for training.

Research Opportunities:

The Research Projects that would offer strong research training opportunities at our Site may be viewed from three areas

• Clinical epidemiology and community interventional projects
• Clinical and community nutrition
• Molecular biology and proteomics

Housing/Meals/Transportation:

We have two type of housing for visiting scholars. One with air conditioning and internet facilities [Guest House]. There are limited rooms [total of 7]. The other [New Annexe] is without these two facilities, but is still an independent room with en suite bathroom. There are over 100 such rooms. Both of these facilities are within the campus and scholars can walk to the different institutions within the campus.

The monthly cost for the Guest House is US$900 and for the New Annexe is US$ 350. Food is available at a modest cost in the cafeteria [Canteen] and in the several restaurants just outside the campus. We would estimate an average cost of US$120 to 150 for food per month. There is no transportation cost to travel from the above housing facilities to any of the institutions within the campus. For field visits, the research group usually has their own transportation at no cost to the scholar.

Health Issues:

The NIH/ICRF program requires all trainees to see a physician before they leave for assignment abroad. Please visit U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Yellow Book: Health Information for International Travel for more information.

Safety Issues:

Please visit the State Department website for more information.

Language requirements other than English:

All training, conversations and written communication with mentors will take place in English. However, a working knowledge of one or two local languages [Kannada, Tamil, Telugu or Hindi] will be useful when conversing with patients. The need for this is rare and translators are available for these situations. If the research or training program involves extensive conversation with patients in the local language, training in these languages can be arranged.