Srinagar:
Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar has been awarded a major research grant by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for a pioneering study aimed at developing a personalized approach to traumatic brain injury (TBI) care. The recognition places the institution among India’s emerging leaders in neurocritical care research.
The grant has been awarded to the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, Pain and Palliative Medicine for a study that will utilize transcranial Doppler-based autoregulation indices to guide individualized cerebral perfusion pressure in patients with severe brain injuries. The project is led by Dr. Rayees Najib, Assistant Professor, under the mentorship of Professor Hina Bashir, Head of the Department.
The study seeks to integrate advanced brain monitoring with cellular biomarkers to determine optimal blood flow for each patient’s brain during recovery. If successful, the findings could transform critical care practices across India, where TBI remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability, particularly from road traffic accidents.
“This grant recognizes not only the scientific potential of our proposal but also the growing research capabilities in Srinagar,” said Dr. Rayees Najib. “Our goal is to move toward personalized brain care—understanding how each patient’s brain responds to trauma and tailoring treatment accordingly.”
The ICMR’s support is being viewed as a significant acknowledgment of the advanced medical research emerging from Kashmir, a region often constrained by infrastructural challenges. This is GMC Srinagar’s first major national research grant in neurocritical care, marking its formal entry into India’s network of academic medicine.
Professor Hina Bashir said the department’s partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare underscores the need to elevate critical care standards in peripheral regions.
“We are working to bridge the gap between advanced research and clinical application,” she said. “Traumatic brain injury is not just a hospital concern—it is a major public health challenge.”
She added that the study aims to “pioneer individualized cerebral perfusion management in TBI patients by integrating advanced neuromonitoring techniques with brain injury biomarkers.”
The ICMR recognition, she said, “highlights GMC Srinagar’s growing contribution to cutting-edge neurocritical care research and marks a proud milestone in the institution’s academic and clinical journey.
Traumatic brain injuries claim an estimated 150,000 lives annually in India, leaving many more with lifelong disabilities. Nearly 60% of TBIs result from road traffic accidents, with young men most affected. Despite this, most hospitals continue to rely on generalized treatment protocols instead of individualized, real-time monitoring. Limited pre-hospital care and inadequate medical infrastructure, especially for low-income patients, mean that up to 95% of trauma victims do not receive optimal care within the critical “golden hour.”
The GMC Srinagar project will employ Doppler ultrasound technology to continuously measure cerebral blood flow, enabling clinicians to adjust blood pressure targets based on each patient’s unique autoregulatory capacity—a practice seldom implemented in Indian hospitals.
Experts say the research could lay the groundwork for national guidelines on precision-based critical care, reducing secondary brain complications such as swelling and oxygen deprivation. The team also plans to correlate physiological data with biochemical markers, potentially creating an integrated clinical model that bridges molecular science and bedside care.