The Foundation for Medical Research

The Foundation for Medical Research (FMR) was established in 1975 as a Public trust and is recognized as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO) by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The Foundation has permanent recognition from the University of Bombay for the training of post- graduate students in Applied Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, through 3 recognized research guides on its staff. So far, a total of  53 students have obtained their post- graduate degrees.

In its early years, FMR devoted its research to leprosy. Its pioneering work in identifying nerve damage in leprosy, which is relevant even today to the problems of rehabilitation of leprosy patients is internationally recognized. Another outcome of our work was the finding that vaccination was an unsuitable approach for prevention of diseases like leprosy. This led to the decision to seek other avenues of prevention including continuous efforts to develop a more effective vaccine. Several methods for testing of new drugs for leprosy were also developed in the first decade.

FMR's research now, besides leprosy, focuses on two major diseases rampant in India - drug-resistant tuberculosis and waterborne diseases. Both take a heavy toll of human life especially in the lower income groups. Therefore, considerable public and private resources are spent on treatment.

FMR is involved in understanding and measuring the problem of drug resistant TB, both in the lab and at the field level. It applies newly developed technologies to understand how drug resistant TB can spread in Bombay and surrounding rural areas. FMR has also been designated as a Quality Assurance Centre to monitor the TB control programme in the city. Water borne diseases are a prime cause of death and serious ill health, particularly among children and young adults. FMR has developed a multi-pronged approach in collaboration with its sister organization, the Foundation for Research in Community Health (FRCH). This combined action-research project covers a rural area of 20,000 people in Purandhar taluka, Maharashtra. FMR is helping these communities with identification and quality control of their local home remedies prepared from locally grown plants. It also provides local residents the technology for testing the quality of their drinking water from its source. The staff of the FMR is involved in teaching local school students simple water testing procedures so that the community becomes self-reliant in this important aspect of their health.

The high quality of FMR's research, and its practical application to alleviation and prevention of three serious illnesses have gained it international recognition. Evidence of this lies in the fact that over the years, 46 research studies have received funding from not only Indian but also prestigious foreign foundations and trusts.