Rajagopala S., Associate Professor and Head (Department of Kaumarabhritya) All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi is the Academic Chair.
“This is a great step and I am sure that this chair will strengthen our collaborations in promoting academic and collaborative research activities in Australia. This will also help in translating the research outcomes to integrate it with public health care delivery system to have credible evidences of our scientific practices," said Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush.
The Academic Chair will undertake academic and collaborative research activities in Ayurveda, including herbal medicine and yoga, as well as design academic standards and short-term/medium-term courses and educational guidelines.
It will provide academic leadership in demonstrating and fostering excellence in teaching, research and policy development related to Ayurveda, within the robust Australian regulatory frame work, and develop strategies to promote the translation and integration of evidence-based Ayurveda medicines into conventional healthcare.
The Ministry of Ayush has taken concerted efforts for promoting and positioning Ayurveda and Yoga as the soft power of India. To facilitate the same, Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) was signed for Ayush Chair with 16 foreign countries.
The ministry has also developed a central sector scheme for the promotion of International Cooperation (IC Scheme) with the mandate to promote and strengthen awareness about Ayush Systems of Medicine, to facilitate international promotion, development and recognition of Ayush Systems in foreign countries and to support international exchange of experts.
