Category health

Bhubaneswar, March 31: Emphasizing the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, Subhasish Panda, Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, highlighted how AI could significantly enhance organ transplantation in India. Speaking at a workshop-cum-regional Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on “Organ Transplantation and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare,” he said AI can integrate large datasets to support smarter, faster, and more informed clinical decisions.

“AI has the ability to revolutionize the organ transplantation ecosystem,” Panda noted. “It can streamline donor-recipient matching using genetic, clinical, and laboratory data, track organ availability in real time, optimize transport logistics for timely delivery, and assist clinicians through predictive analytics and intelligent dashboards.”

India currently ranks third globally in organ transplantation, with approximately 20,000 procedures performed in the past year. However, Panda expressed concern that 82 percent of donations come from living donors, with women representing the majority. He also highlighted that most transplants are conducted in the private sector, which affects affordability, and stressed the need for greater public awareness and increased participation from government healthcare institutions.

The programme was organized by AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS). It brought together more than 300 doctors from Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand to discuss innovations in transplantation and the role of AI in improving patient outcomes.

Panda’s remarks underscored the importance of combining technology, awareness, and policy support to make organ transplantation more efficient, accessible, and equitable across India.

On Monday, Odisha Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati urged everyone to come together to fight the rising number of cancer cases in the state. Speaking at the “Cancer-Free Odisha” Awareness Conclave and the Mahanayak–2026 Awards, he said cancer is not just a medical problem—it affects families and communities across Odisha.

The Governor pointed out that lifestyle changes, tobacco use, environmental factors, and late diagnosis are contributing to the steady rise in cancer cases. He stressed that prevention is better than cure. By spreading awareness about healthy diets, physical activity, and avoiding tobacco, many cancer cases could be prevented.

He also emphasized the importance of early detection. Strong primary healthcare and wider screening, especially in rural areas, can help identify cancer early, improve survival rates, and reduce the emotional and financial burden on families.

Governor Kambhampati called for collaboration between the government, private sector, and civil society to ensure cancer care reaches every corner of the state. He also congratulated the Mahanayak–2026 awardees for their contributions and encouraged continued efforts to create a cancer-aware Odisha.

The event was attended by dignitaries including Korei MLA Akash Dasnayak and former Balasore MP Rabindra Kumar Jena, while the welcome address was delivered by Asim Odisha Foundation Trust Chairperson Asima Das.

The conclave made it clear that tackling cancer in Odisha will require awareness, early detection, and the support of the entire community.

New Delhi: The upcoming India Pharma 2026 is set to spotlight India’s transition from volume-driven production to an innovation-led growth model in the pharmaceutical sector.

Industry leaders and policymakers are expected to use the platform to highlight the need for stronger research and development, advanced manufacturing, and greater global competitiveness. The focus is shifting from producing large quantities of generic medicines to developing high-value drugs, novel therapies, and cutting-edge technologies.

Experts believe this transition is crucial for India to strengthen its position in the global pharmaceutical landscape. While the country has long been known as a major supplier of affordable medicines, the next phase of growth will depend on investments in innovation, quality, and intellectual property.

The event will also provide an opportunity to discuss regulatory reforms, collaborations between industry and academia, and strategies to boost exports. Participants are likely to explore how emerging technologies and digital solutions can further enhance efficiency and innovation in the sector.

With growing global demand for advanced healthcare solutions, India Pharma 2026 is expected to serve as a key platform to shape the future direction of India’s pharmaceutical industry.

New Delhi: The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) has joined hands with Anuvadini AI to make Ayurveda research more accessible to people across India by translating it into 13 languages.

The initiative aims to bridge language barriers that often limit access to traditional knowledge, especially in a country as linguistically diverse as India. By leveraging artificial intelligence, the collaboration will enable wider dissemination of research findings, educational materials, and scientific literature related to Ayurveda.

Officials said the move is expected to benefit students, researchers, and practitioners by allowing them to access authentic information in their native languages. It will also help bring traditional Indian medical knowledge closer to local communities, encouraging greater awareness and understanding.

The partnership reflects a growing effort to combine technology with traditional systems of medicine, making them more inclusive and easier to engage with. By expanding the reach of Ayurveda research, CCRAS hopes to promote its relevance not just within India but also on a global stage.

Bengaluru, Mar 30: In a significant step towards strengthening trauma care systems in India, HOSMAT Hospitals, a leader in orthopaedics and trauma care, in collaboration with the Bangalore Orthopaedic Society, successfully hosted HOSMAT Traumacon 2026, a first-of-its-kind, practice-driven trauma conference, marked by the formal launch of the HOSMAT Alumni Association, and Golden Hour Network (GHN).

 Positioned as a pioneering initiative, the Golden Hour Network is a structured, professional trauma care community that brings together surgeons trained within the HOSMAT ecosystem under a shared commitment to rapid, precise, and outcome-driven trauma care.

More than an alumni collective, GHN is designed as a co-governed clinical and academic network, with a defined programme of monthly clinical rounds, quarterly specialty-focused discussions, and an annual TraumaCon gathering as its apex platform.

Named after the critical “golden hour”, the first hour following injury where timely intervention determines survival, the network reflects a deeper philosophy: that trauma care is not defined by institutions, but by the urgency, precision, and shared responsibility of the clinicians delivering it. Over the next six months, the network will establish its governance structure, onboard senior alumni, and initiate its first clinical engagements.

The launch of GHN underscores HOSMAT’s evolution beyond a high-volume clinical institution into a research-led and academically driven centre of excellence in orthopaedics and trauma care.

Over the past 33+ years, HOSMAT has built one of the country’s most significant trauma ecosystems, performing 25 to 30 trauma surgeries daily, placing it among India’s highest-volume trauma centres. The institution has also contributed extensively to academic medicine, leading over 300 research initiatives, with more than 80 publications in internationally indexed journals, and playing a key role in shaping clinical practice in orthopaedics and trauma.

Its impact on medical education is equally significant. According to Orthopaedic Society of India estimates, nearly 10% of Bengaluru’s orthopaedic surgeons have trained at HOSMAT, reinforcing its role as a major training hub for the next generation of specialists. Over the decades, HOSMAT has also touched nearly one-third of Bengaluru’s population through trauma care, reflecting both its scale and community trust.

Held at the ITC Welcome Hotel, Richmond Road, Traumacon 2026 brought together 150+ leading orthopaedic surgeons, trauma specialists, and clinicians from across India, creating a platform for real-world learning, surgical innovation, and collaborative problem-solving. The event was held in memory of Late Dr Thomas Chandy, a globally respected orthopaedic surgeon and pioneer in trauma care, whose legacy continues to guide the institution’s clinical and academic philosophy.

India continues to face one of the highest trauma burdens globally, with over 4.8 lakh road accidents annually and nearly 1.7–1.8 lakh deaths each year, making trauma one of the leading causes of mortality among young adults. Against this backdrop, Traumacon 2026 was conceptualised to address a critical gap – the need for practice-led, experience-driven learning platforms that directly impact patient outcomes.

The conference featured a comprehensive, full-day scientific agenda with over 25+ expert-led sessions, covering upper limb trauma, complex lower limb injuries, paediatric trauma, non-union surgeries, complication management, medico-legal aspects, and orthopaedic practice efficiency. A defining feature of the conference was its case-based and discussion-led format, enabling clinicians to engage with real-world scenarios and refine decision-making in high-pressure environments.

Reflecting on the significance of the conference and the launch of GHN, Anisha Chandy Eckardt, Managing Director, HOSMAT Hospitals, said:

“Trauma care in India does not suffer from a lack of clinical expertise – it suffers from gaps in time, training, and integration. At HOSMAT, this is a reality we have long recognised, guided by the enduring belief of Dr Thomas Chandy that every patient deserves timely, precise, and compassionate care without compromise. Through Traumacon 2026, we are bringing together some of the finest minds in the field to address these critical gaps – not just through discussion, but through driving real, practice-led change that can improve outcomes where it matters most, in the golden hour of care.

At the same time, we are very consciously investing in transforming HOSMAT into a high-end orthopaedic and trauma research institute. That is the direction we see for ourselves in the years to come – where clinical excellence is deeply integrated with academic leadership, research, and innovation.”

Dr Ravishankar M R, Head of Orthopaedic Trauma, HOSMAT Hospitals and Chairman of Traumacon 2026, added:

“At HOSMAT, trauma care is built on a strong foundation of clinical volume, academic rigour, and continuous research. Managing 25 to 30 trauma surgeries every day gives us a unique depth of real-world experience, while our academic and training programmes ensure that this experience is translated into knowledge. Traumacon reflects this balance – where clinical practice, research, and collaboration come together to create more consistent, evidence-based trauma care systems.”

Adding perspective on the legacy behind the institution, Dr Subodh M Shetty, President, Orthopaedic Society of India, said:

“Dr Thomas Chandy was not just a surgeon – he was a mentor who shaped generations of orthopaedic and trauma specialists in this country. Many of today’s leading surgeons carry forward his approach to precision, discipline, and patient-first care. What we see today in Traumacon is a reflection of that legacy – a commitment to learning, sharing, and continuously improving. The Golden Hour Network, in that sense, is a powerful extension of his vision. It has the potential to bring together expertise across the country and significantly strengthen trauma response systems where it matters most.”

With strong participation, high engagement, and a uniquely practical approach, HOSMAT Traumacon 2026, along with the launch of the Golden Hour Network, marks a significant step towards building a more integrated, collaborative, and research-driven trauma care ecosystem in India.

Building on the success of its inaugural edition, Traumacon is expected to evolve into a national platform for trauma education, research, and clinical collaboration, bringing together clinicians, institutions, and innovators to shape the future of orthopaedic and trauma care in India.

Hyderabad, Mar 30: HRV Global Life Sciences, India’s first integrated Virtual API and Pharmtech company, has announced a comprehensive multi-year Contract Development and Manufacturing (CDMO) partnership with Shodhana Laboratories Private Limited to co-develop, manufacture, and supply a curated pipeline of high-science pharmaceutical APIs.

The collaboration will focus on advancing pharmaceutical-grade APIs, including those primarily used in longevity biology, supported by a US Drug Master File (DMF). With this development, HRV becomes the holder of the first and only active Indian DMF for this specific pharmaceutical API category.

The partnership combines HRV’s global market access across 50+ countries, its AI-enabled Virtual API platform, and regulatory DMF capabilities with Shodhana’s expertise in process chemistry, high-purity synthesis, and GMP-compliant infrastructure. Together, the companies aim to create a seamless development-to-commercialization pathway for next-generation molecules in precision medicine.

Under the agreement, both organizations will jointly undertake:

• Development and US DMF filing for pharmaceutical-grade APIs associated with cellular energy, DNA repair, and aging—emerging as regulated therapeutic solutions in oncology supportive care, neurodegeneration, and longevity medicine
• A pipeline of five advanced APIs across CNS, rare/orphan diseases, and metabolic and neurological segments, targeting regulated markets in the USA and Europe
• End-to-end GMP manufacturing, CMC documentation, stability studies, and validation aligned with global regulatory standards including USFDA, EMA, PMDA, and ANVISA
• Global DMF filings across key regions including the US, EU, LATAM, MENA, and APAC, led by HRV’s regulatory framework
• Implementation of a unified quality, compliance, and audit-readiness system to meet stringent global benchmarks

Hari Kiran Chereddi, MD & CEO of HRV Pharma, said,

“The API’s launch is not a wellness trend—it marks the beginning of a new pharmaceutical category. Filing a US DMF is a strategic step toward building the next decade of medicine. By combining Shodhana’s synthesis precision with our regulatory and commercial platform, India is now positioned to deliver this molecule at the quality standards required for global drug development.”

Nikhil Thota, Director of Shodhana Laboratories, added,

“Manufacturing pharmaceutical-grade APIs demands the highest level of synthesis precision and quality systems. This partnership with HRV enhances our global regulatory reach and positions us at the forefront of high-science API manufacturing for regulated markets worldwide.”

The partnership has already commenced with five active development programs, with both companies jointly managing regulatory strategy and execution under a structured, milestone-driven framework.

This collaboration reinforces HRV’s mission to build an AI-enabled, asset-light pharmaceutical platform while strengthening Shodhana’s position as a preferred global partner for precision and specialty API development.

By Shawn Sefton, MBA, RN

A circulator flips through a picklist that doesn’t match the back table. A surgeon asks for a device, and the nurse hesitates, “Is it even here?” A supply tech finds an expired implant just as the case is closing. The nurse tries to document the implant, but the scanner isn’t working and she can’t find it in the item master. Hours later, a revenue integrity analyst sits with unexplained and missed charges.

None of these moments make headlines. But together, they add up to stress in procedural rooms, missed revenue, unbudgeted waste, and hours of manual data entry. Hospitals can track a FedEx package from Memphis to Miami in real time. But the orthopedic plate placed in a patient yesterday? Sometimes it disappears into the system like it never existed.

Photo by RDNE Stock project: 

The status quo can’t keep up

OR and procedural room documentation systems are failing to keep pace with the realities of modern surgery. The problem isn’t that hospitals don’t try to record implants and supplies, it’s that even newer system designs struggle to capture every supply and implant, resulting in missing and unreliable data.

Manual documentation, whether electronic or on paper, depends on perfect input often during the most complex moments of a procedure. In reality, barcode scanners can fail and reconciliation happens hours, sometimes days, after the fact. As a result, up to 50% of the supplies and implants used in ORs go undocumented.

Meanwhile, reconciliation teams are left deciphering handwritten item numbers, trying to match unlabeled implants to the correct records, and often chasing down clinical team members long after a case ends just to ensure proper billing and records.

The result is incomplete, unreliable data that breaks the billing chain. Missed scans and documentation errors often mean items never make it onto the claim, directly translating into missed charges and lost revenue.

The impact?

Not only do missed charges create an administrative burden but hospitals can lose up to 30% of billable revenue tied to supplies and implants, a margin loss that would be unimaginable in any other industry.

What’s more, failing to accurately capture these items can introduce significant quality, regulatory, and patient safety risks, exactly the kinds of problems health systems try very hard to avoid.

What perioperative leaders are saying

With OBBBA requirements tightening margins, hospitals are under pressure to minimize waste, understand costs and protect profitability more than ever before. Because the OR drives up to 70% of hospital revenue, it’s no surprise that Becker’s first Perioperative Summit kept circling back to the topic of revenue.

Workforce relief is non-negotiable for hospitals that want to scale. When nurses and techs can anticipate surgeon needs, the OR hums. Delays vanish, substitutions shrink, cases flow and surgeons trust their team. Staff stress levels lower. As another leader put it, “Getting nurses away from the supply screen and back to anticipating the surgeon’s needs is the biggest win.”

While resolving missed OR and procedural room charges is critical, leaders also underscored the importance of integration. Technology must fit into daily workflows and EHRs if it’s going to stick in such a fast-paced environment. As one panelist emphasized, “If it doesn’t integrate and work for our people, it won’t scale.”

Many OR leaders are taking action but ultimately still missing far too many products due to systems that fail them, with one leader at Becker’s Perioperative conference saying, “The number of items that go unscanned every case is disturbing.”

However, one healthcare system decided to find a solution and the results are compelling.

How one hospital turned admin chaos into profit

Owensboro Health set out to audit and resolve this very problem. Their perioperative teams were grappling with manual, error-prone documentation in the OR. Nurses entered supply and implant data by hand, items slipped through the cracks, inventory data lagged, and billing teams spent hours chasing missed charges.

Determined to improve workflow and margins, Owensboro Health rolled out an AI-enabled automated supply and implant capture program across its ORs. The impact was significant:

• Delighted clinical, revenue integrity, and supply chain teams
• 48% reduction in monthly expired product costs
• 90%+ reduction in ERP inventory depletion errors
• 12% increase in monthly billable revenue

The volume of cases didn’t change. What changed was product and implant visibility. For staff, that meant fewer end-of-shift reconciliations and less administrative burden. For leaders, it meant millions in recovered revenue.

What should leaders do?

Many hospitals aim to close the OR documentation gap by adding extra staff processes and duplicative tracking systems. This looks like control but creates silos, extra work, and ultimately flawed data.

While plenty of AI tools overpromise, some were built to solve administrative problems like this. It is important to assess solutions carefully. Here are key ways to evaluate AI tools for perioperative documentation:

• Prioritize real-time integration—Does the solution capture data as cases unfold, or does it rely on manual reconciliation after the fact?
• Check workflow alignment—Can it fit seamlessly into existing OR workflows without adding screens and clicks for nurses and techs?
• Look for measurable impact—Can it demonstrate clear metrics, like improved item capture rates, reduced reconciliation time, case costing, expiry management or recovered revenue?
• Evaluate interoperability—Does it connect cleanly with your EHR, ERP, and billing systems, or does it create another silo?
• Test with frontline staff—Does it make the job easier for nurses, techs, and supply teams, or just shift work elsewhere?

Closing the loop

Every day, critical details in the OR slip through the cracks of manual systems. A recalled implant from last week’s surgery. A missed charge for a high-cost disposable. Small moments, easily overlooked, that quietly add up. They create blind spots that chip away at hospital margins, wear down staff, and skew reports that leaders rely on to make decisions. But this no longer has to be the norm. AI technology now gives hospitals the ability to see and capture what’s been missed. Hospitals that act can protect their margins, ease the load on their teams, and bring clarity back to the center of care. The gap is clear. The tools exist. It’s time to close the blind spots.

Shawn Sefton, MBA, RN, is Clinical Advisor at AssistIQ.

Study links support cells to improved cancer cluster survival in bloodstream  

HOUSTON, TX (March 27, 2026) – Metastasis, the spread of cancer from a primary tumor to other parts of the body, is difficult to study in the lab, in part because researchers lack reliable ways to recreate the conditions cancer cells encounter as they travel through the bloodstream.

Rice University bioengineers report a new platform designed to streamline one of the major challenges for metastasis research: Called the Advanced Tumor Landscape Analysis System, or ATLAS, the platform makes it easier to generate large quantities of cancer cell clusters that accurately model those involved in metastasis. Using the platform, the Rice team gained new insights into the mechanisms that enable cancer clusters to survive in the bloodstream during the metastatic process.

Developed in the lab of Michael King, Rice’s E.D. Butcher Professor of Bioengineering, ATLAS builds on earlier work using superhydrophobic surfaces, i.e. materials that strongly repel water. When droplets containing cells are placed on these surfaces, they bead up rather than spread out, encouraging cells to stick to each other and produce three-dimensional clusters.

“Metastasis is still poorly understood because adequate laboratory techniques to recreate this complex process are lacking,” said King, a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar who also serves as special adviser to the provost on life science collaborations with the Texas Medical Center.

The King lab has been working for years on new high-throughput approaches of creating clusters of cancer cells, both on their own and alongside stromal cells, which are noncancerous but are frequently found in the tumor microenvironment. To study what happens during the metastatic process, the researchers expose these models to conditions that closely resemble those in the body ⎯ either via animal models or laboratory blood flow experiments.

Compared to earlier methods, ATLAS takes less time to deploy and costs less to produce. It uses 3D-printed microwell arrays that are treated to create the same kind of water-repelling effect seen in nature, such as on a lotus leaf.

“The way this is achieved, both in nature and in the laboratory, is to create a surface that is rough on a nanoscale level, and then to coat the nanoscale bumps with a nonwetting substance such as Teflon or wax,” said Alexandria Carter, a doctoral student in the King lab who is the first author on the study. “Here, we achieved this for the first time through 3D printing, which means the method is scalable and easily adoptable by other labs.”

Going beyond method development into actual testing, the researchers used ATLAS to create clusters of prostate cancer cells, including ones containing a type of stromal cell called cancer-associated fibroblasts, or CAFs. Testing revealed that cancer clusters are more likely to survive when traveling in groups, especially when CAFs are present. These support cells actively help cancer cells withstand the stresses of circulation and continue to grow.

“One of the most exciting elements of our paper is that it does not just report on a new experimental method for other researchers to use, but it also reports new fundamental biological results,” Carter said. “Perhaps in the future the next generation of prostate cancer drugs will target these CAF ‘escorts’ as a way to prevent metastasis.”

Carter recently completed the Rice Innovation Fellows program and is working on establishing a startup company called Bionostic to commercialize ATLAS. Run by Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie), the program trains doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers to translate their research into breakthrough solutions for real-world problems.

Kyle Judah, Lilie executive director, said “a pre-requisite for bringing research beyond the bench is to be deeply passionate about the problem space, and Carter is the perfect example of an exceptionally driven and committed engineer willing this idea into reality.”

Models that are both realistic and practical make possible research that would otherwise take longer and be costlier to undertake.

“ATLAS makes it easier to study one of the most dangerous aspects of cancer,” King said.