CCRAS and NCISM Launch ‘SMART 2.0’ to Mainstream Ayurveda Research

January 4, 2024

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) along with the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM) has initiated the ‘SMART 2.0’ program on January 3rd. It aims to promote evidence-based clinical research on priority Ayurveda interventions by fostering collaboration between research bodies and academic institutions.

About SMART 2.0

‘SMART’ expands to ‘Scope for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research among Teaching professionals’.

Under it, the CCRAS and NCISM invite expressions of interest from Ayurveda colleges, hospitals and universities to jointly undertake robust studies demonstrating the efficacy and safety of Ayurveda formulations targeting key healthcare challenges.

Areas of Focus

Initial research span pediatrics, women’s health, malnutrition and lifestyle diseases:

Childhood Nutrition: Wasting, lactation issues
Menstrual issues: Abnormal uterine bleeding
Nutrition: Malnutrition, calcium deficiencies
Lifestyle Diseases: Diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis

CCRAS will provide scientific inputs and project monitoring during the multi-center trials.

Need for Mainstreaming Ayurveda Research

Despite the huge potential of Ayurveda, evidence gaps limit integration into public healthcare programs relative to conventional medicine.

The SMART initiatives therefore facilitate generating tangible validation on Ayurvedic therapies through interdisciplinary methods involving ministry bodies and academicians.

Successful precedents already demonstrated under the earlier SMART 1.0 round on 10 disease areas indicate the collaborative approach’s effectiveness.

Inviting Wider Participation

As India rolls out massive campaigns to popularize Ayush systems, scaling up clinical research with practitioner participation can overcome perception barriers while enabling their accountable adoption.

The CCRAS has welcomed interest from all Ayurveda teaching institutions countrywide to widen this academic outreach across regions.

Overall, the SMART 2.0 program signals growing efforts to put Ayurveda on an equal evidence footing within India’s medical mainstream through active collaboration between science and tradition.

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