Friends of Researchers in
the Indian Subcontinent (FRIS)

Who we are?

We are the ‘Friends of Researchers in the Indian Subcontinent’, a charity designed to promote and support advancement of biomedical education through collaboration between researchers of the UK and the countries of EU and those based in the 7 different countries of the subcontinent. We believe that ‘only collaborative biomedical research will eradicate diseases and make this world disease free’. We urge you to join us in this journey and take a step forward to a healthy and happy world for everyone by donating to our cause.

What we do?

We are working for the eradication of human diseases in the Indian subcontinent by promoting and supporting the advancement of biomedical research through collaboration with researchers in the UK and the countries of EU. It is expected to lead to the furtherance of biomedical education and add to the availability of highly trained researchers ready to address the healthcare needs of the subcontinent.

Our Objectives

Friends of Researchers in the Indian Subcontinent (FRIS) does not support investigative research merely on a particular disease, instead it focusses on training researcher, equipping them with the most modern research tools, which can be used to study molecular basis of different diseases, and help to improve the health of the population at large in the subcontinent.

We will achieve our mission by: supporting reciprocal visits of researchers, exchange research materials and technologies, providing a platform for lectures, seminars, webinars, conferences and training, funding research in the UK/EU carried out by students from the subcontinent (at PhD and above) that cannot be completed in their home country due to unavailability of equipment/resources, funding research positions in UK/EU institutions that will promote biomedical education in the subcontinent and publicly disseminating the useful knowledge resulting from the research that is funded.

As biomedical sciences are the cornerstone of modern medicine, our activity of promoting and supporting advances in biomedical education through laboratory-based research will inevitably lead to research programmes to address the nation’s health. They will help to develop new technologies/ideas/innovations that would be employed in future for disease prevention, early diagnosis, effective disease management, repurposing of established drugs and improved treatment modalities. This will also help raise public awareness about the benefits of healthy lifestyle in disease prevention which will contribute immensely to the economic growth of the region.

Why to support the Indian Subcontinent?

We work in the UK, European Union and in the 7 countries of the Indian subcontinent including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Being a tropical region with its own blend of food and culture, the subcontinent has health issues which are relatively uncommon in the Western countries. To provide diagnosis, management and treatment for such conditions, it is important to understand the molecular basis of the diseases, and for that, one must not only have biomedical research infrastructure but also public awareness of the importance of such research.

The COVID pandemic has enlightened the public on the importance of biomedical research in general and the need for research infrastructure in their respective countries. Most researchers in these countries are English speaking and yet they find it challenging to access technologies developed in the West and adopt them according to their needs in their countries. FRIS is going to change that by encouraging and supporting collaborations between the biomedical researchers based in the UK/EU and those based in countries of the subcontinent.

What we support

The projects we support must be non-clinical biomedical research or those at the interface of basic and clinical research. Such projects are generally not on the radar screen of most private and public funding agencies in the developing countries. However, the recent pandemic has shown the importance of such research and therefore the FRIS founding Board of Trustees of FRIS is determined to ensure that researchers in the subcontinent are adequately prepared for such an eventuality going forward.

As FRIS is just being set-up, we are at present not accepting applications for grant support.

Where will your donations go?

We are currently collecting donations to support our objectives, soon we will start by inviting grant applications. In the meantime, we are still able to help researchers wishing to establish collaboration or study for higher degrees in the UK or EU by giving them general advice and suggestions.

Your donations will be used to promote research collaborations in all the seven countries of the Indian subcontinent in areas of Biomedical Sciences in the form of travel grants, visa fee, living expenses, publication fee and laboratory consumable costs. In the long term, we also propose to appoint senior researchers in the UK/EU institutions, dedicated to collaborating with researchers in the subcontinent. The primary benefits to institutions and researchers arising from such collaborations will be: i) more research funding, ii) improvement in research infrastructure, (iii) better training of researchers, and (iv) academic recognition locally/nationally and internationally, and v) raising public awareness about disease prevention, the importance of biomedical research/education and the challenges faced by researchers in the subcontinent.

How will your donations impact?

Your donations will have huge impact on public awareness about the importance of basic biomedical research and education in countries of the Indian subcontinent. This will translate into highly capable students opting for biomedical research as a profession. In the long run, our activities will encourage federal governments and local charities to direct more resources toward biomedical research resulting in more projects being launched, new institutes being opened, and new faculties being appointed. In the UK and EU, FRIS will encourage the established biomedical researchers to collaborate with the researchers in the subcontinent resulting in high impact publications and patents. These activities eventually will encourage both the public and private sectors to invest in better healthcare for the population at large of different countries in the subcontinent.

Infographic chart for FRIS Charity Development

Proposed development of FRIS charity
Figure 1: The 20-year plan of FRIS development. There are 4 milestones since the inception of FRIS Charity.
The projects shown with asterisk are collaborative exchange programme. The activities of FRIS will directly depend on our ability to raise fund. If we can raise funds faster, then the timeframe will be shortened. We are hoping that the FRIS annual meetings will start in the 2nd year and will continue regardless of the size of our corpus. It is expected that the faculty positions will be established concurrently in the addition to the collaborative research exchange programme.
ARE YOU A PHD STUDENT/ RESEARCHER OF BIOMEDICINE

IN INDIAN SUBCONTINENT?

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Become a member

Become our valuable member. Join our cause by paying membership fee of just £22 (non-refundable).

FRIS Donations

How can you help us?

Besides your generous donations you can also help us in a number of ways:

  1. By spreading the word about FRIS and its activities.
  2. By becoming an honorary member.
  3. By asking your friends and colleagues to become honorary members.
  4. By becoming a member of FRIS Charity research network.
  5. By asking your friends and colleagues to become a member of FRIS Charity research network.