Breakthroughs in healthcare research: How they have proved to be a boon for doctors and patients

The remarkable contributions of doctors to the society and humanity as a whole are indisputable, given their selfless dedication and willingness to prioritise the well-being of others over themselves. To honour and acknowledge their significant role, India observes National Doctors' Day on 1st July, commemorating the birth anniversary of the esteemed physician, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.


On this occasion, TOI Medithon, a unique initiative by Times of India to make people aware of and clarify their doubts on crucial health conditions, organized a digital conclave, uniting doctors from various fields and policymakers. It aimed to celebrate these frontline health warriors and raise mass awareness about the challenges they face.

Titled National Doctors' Day: A Tribute to the Torchbearers of our Health, this day-long conclave was aired on TOI's FB platform on 1st July. The online summit included multiple panel discussions on a wide range of topics starting from violence against doctors, physician burnout, medical breakthroughs that have proved to be a boon for doctors, and much more.


Breakthroughs in healthcare research have undeniably proved to be a blessing not only for patients but for doctors too. Remarkable advancements in vaccine development, drug discovery, genome sequencing, robotics, AI and screening technology among others have revolutionized the field of medicine, opening up new avenues for diagnosis, treatment, and patient care.

In order to shed light on these developments, which have helped healthcare professionals improve their medical practice and offered better treatment outcomes to patients, the Doctors’ Day conclave of TOI Medithon came with an elaborate panel discussion titled Breakthroughs in Healthcare Research: How They Have Proved to be a Boon for Doctors and Patients. The esteemed panellists for the session included Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, Former Head, Division of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR, Dr. Harsh Mahajan, Founder & Chairman, Mahajan Imaging & Labs, Dr. Anurag Agrawal, Dean, Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University and Dr. Dipyaman Ganguly, Principal Scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology.





Through the late 80s and 90s, significant headways were been made in the discovery of HIV AIDS drugs and therapies. They have not only reduced the spread of this life-threatening condition but also increased the lie of those living with the condition, while improving their quality of their lives. Shedding light on this Dr. Gangakhedkar said, “Human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) were discovered in 1981. Back then, 50 per cent of people used to succumb to HIV AIDS within seven years of being infected, owing to some kind of opportunistic infection. So, finding the right treatment was the need of the hour and a big challenge too. Around 1987, various drugs were being looked at from different drug libraries for the treatment of AIDS. A drug which was tested earlier for malignancy and found ineffective, proved to be effective against this condition.”

One of the significant therapies that took the treatment of AIDS to the next level is antiretroviral therapy (ART). “Once these drugs and therapies came along, they not only did they enhance the quality of lives by reducing morbidity caused by opportunistic infections, but also ensured that people living with the condition survived as long as any other individual. The best thing about ART is that it decreases the risk of transmission. It is also capable of reducing the viral load to a significant degree. Moreover, ART is a very easy therapy to administer as it involves oral drugs only. Earlier, these drugs used to cost INR 40,000 per month. Today, pharma companies have brought down the price to less than INR 1000 per month,” he added. This is a boon for sure!


Genome sequencing is another breakthrough in the arena of medical research that has evolved both diagnostics and treatment. Sharing his thoughts on the topic, Dr. Agrawal said, “Some babies are born with diseases that hinder their development. These could be rare genetic disorders too. Once upon a time, it used to take years to diagnose these congenital conditions. Today, with the help of genome sequencing, it’s possible to detect them very fast. Fortunately, it is not just restricted to diagnostics today. Genome sequencing translates to therapy too.”

The technology boom ushered in by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics has touched almost every sphere of our lives including healthcare and diagnostics in particular. “AI is playing a crucial role in many areas of radiology. Now, Chest X-Rays, head CT scans and MRIs for stroke are being read using AI,” said Dr. Mahajan.

“Currently, there are 300 plus AI algorithms that are approved by the US FDA in day-to-day clinical practice. Though there are so many AI algorithms available, only a few are in clinical use due to the challenge in deploying them,” he added.


However, Dr. Mahajan observed that despite the challenges, the future of AI in healthcare as a whole and in radiology, particularly in imaging, is very bright.


“This technology is going to help radiologists perform mechanical tasks such as measurement of sizes and volumes in lesser time. With the improvement in accuracy, it will increase productivity for sure. Today if a radiologist can read 25 MRI scans, assisted by AI, he can read 100 in the same time frame and do a better job of it. I believe that AI has the capacity to make an average radiologist good and a good one excellent,” he remarked. According to Dr. Mahajan, in the underserved parts of the world, where there is a dearth of radiologists, AI will be able to fill the gap.

While it comes to vaccine development, major progress has been achieved in the COVID times. “During the late 1960s, we got the vaccine for Mumps (a viral disease) and that was known to be the fastest developed vaccine. But that also took four years. However, the COVID vaccine could be developed within almost 6 months, thanks to Next Generation Sequencing Technology, and Genomic Sequencing. Now, that is phenomenal,” said Dr. Ganguly. “Due to the pandemic, the regulatory approval stages of vaccine development have been streamlined a lot. This will help us in a major way in terms of developing a new vaccine and offering them to the population when new need arises,” he added.