July 18, 2022: The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), a premier global management institute, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lal PathLabs Foundation – the CSR arm of Dr Lal PathLabs to set up the ‘Dr Lal Pathlabs Chair in Healthcare’. The MoU was signed by Professor Errol D’ Souza, Director, IIMA and Dr Om Manchanda, IIMA alumnus, Managing Director of Dr Lal PathLabs and Trustee Lal PathLabs Foundation, at the Institute’s campus. The Chair has been set up for an initial period of three years and has been facilitated by the IIMA Endowment Fund.
Speaking about the importance and objective of this Research Chair, Professor Errol D’Souza, Director, IIMA said, “The healthcare and allied sectors are evolving rapidly notably in the last few years. The advancements in this field are truly remarkable as they have had the potential to impact multiple stakeholders – people, industry, and governments worldwide as the healthcare ecosystem today operates across geographies. Our faculty have built a rich repository of research in the healthcare space and this collaboration will create more opportunities for us to contribute in ways that will benefit academia and the world of practice. I am especially pleased that Dr Om Manchanda of Dr Lal PathLabs, an IIMA alumnus, is supporting us in this important endeavour.”
The objective of the Dr Lal Pathlabs Chair in Healthcare is to complement the Institute’s existing research being done by its faculty members in the healthcare and allied sectors. The research conducted by this Chair will further strengthen the collaboration between academia and industry, optimize the forward and backward linkages in the healthcare ecosystem and promote thought leadership in this domain. Additionally, this will also enhance the learning experience for students by engaging and exposing them to various industry practices and trends.
Sharing his views on partnering with IIMA towards this, Dr Om Manchanda, Managing Director, Dr Lal PathLabs, said, “Healthcare, in general, saw a great boost during the COVID pandemic – and the need for high-quality research was re-established. The ever-evolving healthcare sector presents a great opportunity to make meaningful contributions that directly impacts our community. We are excited to support research through a dedicated Chair at IIMA – which will potentially serve as a catalyst in the confluence of academia, industry, and society at large.” The Chair has been supported by Lal PathLabs Foundation as a part of its CSR related activities of Dr. Lal PathLabs.
Thanking the Lal PathLabs Foundation, Ms Chhavi Moodgal, Chief Executive Officer, IIMA Endowment Fund said, “The global pandemic has brought to fore the need for healthcare knowledge building and thought leadership as the world saw unparalleled uncertainty. Every adversity presents an opportunity, and we believe that massive investments in healthcare from pharmaceutical companies, governments, think tanks and multilateral agencies will require tremendous inroads in healthcare research, advisory, consulting, and public policy. We at the IIMA Endowment Fund are proud to support the Institute in setting up the Chair in Healthcare in collaboration with the leading diagnostics player in India – Dr Lal PathLabs, to carry out research in this space. This is the third Chair to be set up courtesy our efforts and we are grateful to Dr. Om Manchanda and his team and Board for their support.”
The IIMA Endowment Fund is a first-of-its-kind initiative at any major management institute in the country. Setup in 2020 by 10 like-minded alumni to help solidify IIMA’s prominence in thought leadership, research, and academic excellence globally, the Fund is now Institute’s dedicated philanthropic and fundraising arm for all donations to IIMA. The IIMA EF recognizes and further enables alumni and corporate giving to the Institute through a formal, transparent and professionally run setup.
