IIT Madras’ Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre Secures $5 Million Grant from Fairfax Financial Holdings

IIT Madras’ Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre (SGBC) has been awarded a $5 million research grant by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, an organization established by IIT alumnus Prem Watsa. The centre, which came into existence in 2022, focuses on imaging the human brain at a cellular level and has created a unique technology platform to achieve this goal. This platform produces high-resolution datasets that provide significant insights into brain diseases and cellular structures.

Background of Prem Watsa

Prem Watsa, who earned his degree in chemical engineering with first-class honors in 1971, received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999. 

Praise for IIT Madras’ Work

Prem Watsa expressed high regard for the work at the SGBC, stating, “The quality of work and the team’s dedication at IIT Madras’s Sudha Gopalakrishnan Brain Centre is exceptionally impressive. The technology platform they have developed, which generates high-resolution image volumes of human brains, is unique. It has a profound impact on advancing our understanding of human brains, providing insights that could lead to solutions for complex brain diseases.”

Pioneering Brain Imaging Project

The SGBC at IIT Madras, established in 2022, is leading an international project focused on imaging the human brain at the cellular level. This project produces comprehensive datasets of human brains, contributing significant scientific output and technological tools.

Advanced Histology Pipeline

The centre has also created a high-throughput histology pipeline capable of processing entire human brains into petabyte-scale digital images. These datasets, which consist of high-resolution images of human brains from various demographics and age groups, offer an in-depth view of cellular structures across the entire brain.