Hyderabad: Researchers from the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) secured a Rs.4.98 crore UoH ICMR grant for a four-year project. The team will work on an affordable, non-invasive blood test for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
The project was sanctioned under the ICMR Nischayak Anveshan Extramural Grants 2026 programme. It will combine single-cell transcriptomics, reproductive biology and artificial intelligence to identify molecular subtypes of PCOS. The researchers said the approach could potentially help doctors tailor fertility treatment.
The project officially commenced on September 16 after the ICMR sanctioned it on September 1. An initial Rs.1.52 crore was allocated for the first year of the project.
The UoH-led team will study molecular signatures found in circulating immune cells in blood. Researchers will then use machine-learning models to examine whether these signatures can reflect changes linked to the ovarian follicular environment.
The proposed diagnostic platform is intended to be developed in India at a cost of less than Rs.2,000, subject to successful validation and eventual development. The test is planned to classify patients into molecular PCOS endotypes and could potentially help clinicians assess treatment strategies before costly fertility procedures such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF).
The project also aims to create India’s first single-cell transcriptomic atlas of PCOS. The resource is expected to provide a population-specific genomic database for future research into the disorder, drug discovery and reproductive medicine.
UoH ICMR grant supports PCOS research infrastructure
Prof Suresh Yenugu of the Department of Animal Biology, School of Life Sciences, is the Principal Investigator of the project. Dr. Manjari Kiran from the Department of Systems and Computational Biology is the Co-Investigator, while Dr. Sree Durga Patchava, Head of Reproductive Medicine at Virinchi Hospitals, Hyderabad, is the Clinical Co-Investigator.
The project is also expected to strengthen research infrastructure at UoH. It will support the addition of a high-performance GPU computing workstation and a real-time PCR system, besides creating research positions for young scientists.
Researchers said the initiative could contribute to more affordable and population-specific approaches to PCOS diagnosis and reproductive care. However, the proposed diagnostic platform will first require further research, validation and regulatory evaluation before it can be used routinely in clinical practice.
The UoH ICMR grant will therefore support research across molecular biology, reproductive medicine and artificial intelligence. The four-year project will assess whether blood-based molecular signatures can provide useful information about PCOS and its different molecular subtypes.