ILH and IIT Hyderabad establish Indo-German Bioengineering Centre of Excellence for Lung Health

The Institute for Lung Health (ILH), a research institute of Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU), Germany, has taken a leading role in establishing the ILH–IITH Bioengineering Centre of Excellence for Lung Health in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), India. The centre was inaugurated on 7 January 2026 on the IITH campus by Prof. B. S. Murty, Director of IIT Hyderabad; Prof. Werner Seeger, Director of ILH at Justus Liebig University Giessen; and Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman of AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad. It represents India’s first specialized bioengineering centre with a focus on lung health.

Designed and driven as an Indo-German flagship initiative, the new centre integrates bioengineering, clinical medicine, and translational research to address key challenges in the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of lung and cardiovascular diseases. The collaboration builds on ILH’s internationally recognized leadership in lung and vascular biology and translational lung research, combined with the globally acknowledged engineering excellence of the Indian Institutes of Technology, reflected for example in IIT Hyderabad’s strengths in biomedical engineering and advanced infrastructure.

The centre is jointly led by Prof. Soni Savai Pullamsetti and Prof. Rajkumar Savai (Institute for Lung Health, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany), together with Prof. Renu John and Prof. Falguni Pati (IITH, India). With strong scientific leadership from Germany and India, the centre is intended to serve as a long-term platform for structured Indo-German collaboration in lung research, innovation, and training. Core research areas include non-invasive diagnostics, bioengineered disease models, mechanobiology, and personalized therapeutic strategies, with a clear focus on clinical relevance, scalability, and societal impact.

Prof. Werner Seeger, Director of ILH and Chairman of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), emphasized the scientific and translational orientation of the initiative, stating:
“This centre marks a new era in lung health research, in which engineering sciences and medicine come together to deepen biological understanding and advance the treatment of lung and vascular diseases. By combining ILH’s clinical and translational expertise with the bioengineering strengths of IIT Hyderabad, we aim to accelerate the generation of scientific insights, enable translation, and train the next generation of engineers in the field of lung health.”

Highlighting the importance of the centre for structured international research and capacity building, Prof. Soni Savai Pullamsetti, Director of the ILH–IITH Bioengineering Centre of Excellence, added:
“The centre provides a sustainable framework for translating fundamental discoveries in lung and vascular biology into engineering solutions with direct clinical relevance. By embedding German translational research expertise within a strong bioengineering ecosystem at IIT Hyderabad, we are creating long-term value through joint research programs, structured training of early-career scientists, and the development of scalable technologies for global lung health.”

Prof. Rajkumar Savai, Co-Director of the ILH–IITH Bioengineering Centre of Excellence, underscored the growing importance of the centre for global research collaboration and innovation in lung cancer:
“The centre positions lung cancer research at the interface of bioengineering and biomedicine to fundamentally transform oncological care. Through international collaboration, it integrates translational science with advanced technological approaches such as AI-driven analytics, systems biology, next-generation imaging, biomaterials, and computational tools. This convergence aims to advance early detection and enable precision therapies.”

The initiative has attracted significant national and regional attention in India and has been widely covered by leading print, digital, and broadcast media (see links below).

With this initiative, ILH and Justus Liebig University Giessen further strengthen their global leadership in lung research and reaffirm their commitment to international partnerships aimed at addressing the growing global burden of respiratory diseases through cooperative, interdisciplinary, and internationally networked research.