UoH gets Rs 4.98 cr grant to develop AI-powered PCOS blood test

Hyderabad: A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Hyderabad’s (UoH) School of Life Sciences has been awarded a Rs 4.98 crore research grant from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to develop an AI-powered blood test for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which was recently named Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS).

Sanctioned under the ICMR Intermediate Extramural Grants (ICMR Nischayak Anveshan Extramural Grants) 2026 call, the four-year translational initiative stands among the largest extramural funding awards received by the University.

The project aims to leverage advanced genomics and artificial intelligence to create a non-invasive, affordable blood test for PCOS, which is a leading cause of infertility affecting millions of women across India.

Official work on the project commenced on September 16, 2026, following ICMR’s sanction on September 1, 2026, with an initial first-year disbursement of Rs 1.52 crore.

Service targeted to cost under Rs 2,000

The current diagnosis of PCOS relies heavily on broad, symptom-based criteria, leaving clinicians without precise molecular tools to evaluate ovarian microenvironments or predict individual treatment responses, UoH stated in a release.

Consequently, many couples endure repeated, costly, and emotionally burdensome fertility interventions, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), largely through trial and error, it added.

The ultimate objective of the project is to deliver a patented, made-in-India diagnostic platform targeted at under Rs 2,000, which will classify patients into distinct molecular PCOS endotypes and enable clinicians to predict IVF outcomes before initiating expensive treatment regimens.

This will be achieved by analysing circulating immune cells in peripheral blood, which carry distinct molecular signatures reflective of the follicular environment. By accurately decoding these signals using machine learning models, invasive evaluations can be replaced with a simple routine blood sample.

This project will also construct India’s first single-cell transcriptomic atlas of PCOS, which can serve as a foundational national resource to drive future drug discovery and therapeutic innovations tailored to Indian populations.