Key to the new collaboration with India’s leading public research university is an interdisciplinary center of excellence on nutrition science and medicine

Tufts University has signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a leading research university with more than 40 departments and more than 5,000 students, located in Bengaluru, India, the center of the nation’s high-tech industry.

The agreement, signed on June 23 in Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) by Tufts University President Sunil Kumar and Govindan Rangarajan, director of Indian Institute of Science, establishes a framework for the development of a range of possible initiatives jointly pursued by the two institutions.

Foremost among the collaborations envisioned is the creation of a center of excellence focused on nutrition science and medicine. To be housed at IISc, the proposed center, known as the Interdisciplinary Centre for Nutrition Science and Medicine (ICNSM), represents the vision of Kumar and Rangarajan to synergize the institutions’ complementary strengths.

Among that center’s earliest priorities will be to initiate research across categories (basic, applied, clinical, and translational) occurring at both the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts and IISc, which will in turn create opportunities for collaboration, visiting scholars at both institutions, and innovative research opportunities.

Possible areas of research focus include: aging; nutritional immunity; cancer; cardiovascular, metabolic and kidney disease; nutrition and infectious diseases; precision nutrition; gut microbiome and immunity; obesity; food is medicine; plant-based nutrition; health impacts of ultra-processed food; nutrition and technology (including the use of sensors and AI); and preventative nutrition.

In addition, Tufts and IISc see opportunities to collaborate through the ICNSM on large-scale nutritional intervention studies focused on, for example, chronic disease, anemia, hypertension, malnutrition, and metabolic disease.

The center also anticipates the co-development of nutrition-specific competencies for physicians and scholars who are trained at IISc, an important first step in creating curriculum and education standards that will transform healthcare. Nutrition-specific competencies could be woven into multiple areas of provider education and could be obtained through nutrition courses and degrees that currently exist within the educational offerings of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy or developed specifically in collaboration with IISc.

“We envision a multifaceted and flexible approach to training that equips all emerging physician-scientists and health researchers with a strong foundation in nutrition science,” said Christina Economos, professor and dean of the Friedman School.

“Nutrition plays a critical role in the prevention, management, and treatment of both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Ongoing research and discovery are essential to optimizing care,” Economos said.

Equally as important, according to Economos, is understanding the broader societal and structural factors—including food access, availability, and affordability—that shape dietary patterns. “This systems-level perspective enhances patient-provider relationships and enables more personalized, practical, and equitable clinical guidance,” she said.

“The center will be anchored in the medical school at IISc and will leverage the deep expertise at IISc in basic sciences and engineering technology,” said Navakanta Bhat, dean of the IISc’s Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences and professor at the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering. “This will offer a unique platform for researchers from IISc and Tufts to co-develop nutrition focused healthcare solutions for India, the U.S., and the rest of the world, by addressing the entire disease spectrum arising out of malnutrition as well as obesity.”

The center also plans to establish a joint PhD program as well as a tele-nutrition system for knowledge transfer at the level of primary care delivery.

Kumar, who earned a master's degree from IISc, and Rangarajan will appoint members of a joint executive steering committee to oversee the strategic direction of the center.

One of the first six universities to be recognized by the Indian government as an Institute of Eminence, Indian Institute of Science ranks among the leading research institutions in Asia. The science- and engineering-focused university has seven academic divisions: biological sciences, chemical sciences, electrical sciences, mechanical sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, interdisciplinary research, and medical sciences. The medical sciences division includes a postgraduate medical school and hospital with a focus on clinical research to create a cadre of physician-scientists.