17/09/2026
🏆 Prof. Suresh Yenugu and Dr. Manjari Kiran of the University of Hyderabad awarded a ₹4.98 crore ICMR research grant for PCOS diagnostics 🧬
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has sanctioned a grant of ₹4.98 crore to a University of Hyderabad team under the ICMR Nischayak Anveshan Extramural Grants 2026 call. The award ranks among the largest extramural research grants received by the University.
📌 Why it matters
Polycystic O***y Syndrome (PCOS) is among the leading causes of infertility in Indian women. Its diagnosis still relies on broad, symptom-based criteria, and many couples undergo repeated, costly IVF cycles without reliable predictive tools.
🔬 The research
The four-year project will integrate artificial intelligence with single-cell transcriptomics to study whether circulating immune cells reflect the ovarian environment. The objective is a non-invasive blood test, targeted at a cost below ₹2,000, that classifies PCOS sub-types and predicts the likelihood of IVF success before treatment begins. The team will also build a population-specific single-cell atlas of PCOS in Indian women.
👥 Research team
🔹 Prof. Suresh Yenugu, Principal Investigator, Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, UoH
🔹 Dr. Manjari Kiran, Co-Investigator, Department of Systems and Computational Biology, School of Life Sciences, UoH
🔹 Dr. Sree Durga Patchava, MD, MRCOG, Clinical Co-Investigator, Head of Reproductive Medicine, Virinchi Hospitals, Hyderabad
📅 Sanctioned on 1 September 2026, the project commenced on 16 September 2026, with approximately ₹1.52 crore released for the first year.
🏛️ The grant will also add a GPU computing workstation for AI modelling and a real-time PCR system to the University, and create research positions for early-career scientists.
👏 Congratulations to Prof. Yenugu, Dr. Kiran and Dr. Patchava on this distinguished recognition.
