Paderu (ASR DISTRICT): Government Medical College (GMC), Paderu is celebrating a significant achievement as four of its MBBS students have been selected for the highly competitive Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Short Term Studentship (STS) 2025 programme. The students will undertake research projects focused on addressing pressing health issues within the local tribal communities.

The ICMR-STS programme provides undergraduate medical students with an opportunity to engage in real-world biomedical research under the guidance of experienced faculty. The selected projects from GMC Paderu are tailored to the specific health challenges of the tribal region, to generate findings that will directly inform and improve public health services.

The awardees and their respective research projects are detailed as follows. Sasimukhi Madduri’s project will investigate the effectiveness of measles vaccination in tribal children, assessing their real immunity levels to identify and close existing gaps in disease prevention. She is guided by Dr K Ramya Sree, Assistant Professor, Microbiology.

P Aditya is focusing on the health status of tribal school children; his study will analyse nutritional deficiencies, infections, and other morbidities among students at GTWA schools. His guide is Dr D Errayya, Associate Professor, Community Medicine.

Bhuma Dileep Reddy’s research will address the rising prevalence of lifestyle diseases by studying the burden of diabetes in tribal communities. He is guided by Dr Ch Pavani, Assistant Professor, Biochemistry. Pullela Lakshmi Narayana’s project seeks to understand the patterns of substance abuse, including alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, among tribal youth. He is guided by Dr M Viveka Vardhini, Assistant Professor, Community Medicine.

These students were mentored and encouraged by Prof Dr Radha Kumari, Professor of Community Medicine (SPM), who spearheaded the initiative to develop these community-oriented research proposals. Principal Dr DHemalatha Devi lauded the students’ success and said that this moment brings pride to the college.