Hyderabad has become home to the country’s first Bioengineering Centre of Excellence for Lung Health, launched at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) in collaboration with the Institute for Lung Health (ILH), Germany. Conceived as a response to growing national and global concerns around respiratory diseases, the new centre will focus on cutting-edge research and innovation at the interface of bioengineering and clinical medicine.
According to IIT Hyderabad, the ILH–IITH Bioengineering Centre of Excellence aims to address critical gaps in lung health by fostering an Indo-German partnership that brings together engineers, clinicians and scientists on a common platform. The initiative is expected to catalyse the development of next-generation tools for diagnosis, therapy and disease monitoring in pulmonary medicine.
The Centre is jointly led by Renu John of IIT Hyderabad and Soni Savai Pullamsetti from the Institute for Lung Health, Germany, who will serve as its directors. As co-leads, they will steer interdisciplinary collaborations spanning biomedical engineering, imaging, physiology, and clinical research to tackle complex lung and cardio-pulmonary conditions.
Envisioned as a global hub for collaboration, the Centre will support joint projects, exchange programmes and training initiatives that strengthen India–Germany cooperation in biomedical science and engineering. It will also focus on nurturing the next generation of researchers and innovators in lung health, creating a talent pipeline equipped to handle emerging respiratory health challenges.
A key thrust area will be the development of non-invasive diagnostics and advanced therapies that can improve patient outcomes while reducing procedural risks. Accurate assessment of pulmonary and cardiac function remains a major challenge because of limitations in current technologies, and the Centre plans to address this through novel approaches for lung function evaluation, disease modelling and personalised therapy.
The ILH–IITH partnership will explore innovative methods for real-time monitoring and modelling of lung diseases, enabling a better understanding of disease mechanisms and progression. Researchers aim to translate these advances into clinical applications that can support earlier diagnosis, more precise treatment decisions and improved long-term management of chronic respiratory conditions.
The Centre was formally inaugurated at IIT Hyderabad by the institute’s Director, B S Murty. The event was attended by leading experts, including AIG Hospitals Chairman Dr D Nageshwar Reddy and ILH Director and Chairman of the German Center for Lung Diseases (DZL), Germany, Werner Seeger, who underlined the importance of international collaboration in tackling lung health burdens.
Speakers at the launch emphasised that the new Centre comes at a time when respiratory illnesses, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung diseases and post-infectious complications, are placing a growing strain on health systems. By combining India’s engineering strengths with Germany’s clinical expertise in lung diseases, the Bioengineering Centre of Excellence is positioned to drive impactful solutions for patients in both countries and beyond.
