Chennai, 29 September 2026: Apollo Knowledge and the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) have come together to work on healthcare research, education and workforce development. The two signed a Memorandum of Understanding today in the presence of Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Founder-Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, Dr. Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, and Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Group Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani.
The collaboration brings together the clinical environment of the Apollo network and BITS Pilani’s strengths in engineering, technology and data science. Clinicians and BITS Pilani researchers will explore joint research on clinical and healthcare problems, with specific areas to be identified as the collaboration develops.
The two institutions will collaborate to develop Work Integrated Learning programmes for healthcare professionals. These programmes allow doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and healthcare managers to earn a qualification while continuing in their jobs. Potential areas include healthcare logistics and supply chain, pharmacy, and hospital finance, with the curriculum built around the work these professionals actually do.
The partners will also explore technology learning for students, built around the role each student is training for. This would extend to learners at The Apollo University, at the medical and nursing colleges in the Apollo network, and at Apollo Healthcare Academy’s partner institutions.
Specialised programmes in allied health and healthcare technology are a further area the two institutions will explore, combining BITS Pilani’s competency centres with clinical training in Apollo hospitals.
Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Founder-Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “Healthcare today runs on technology as much as it runs on clinical skill. The people who deliver care need to learn that technology properly, and they need to learn it without stepping away from their work. BITS Pilani has taught working professionals for over four decades. We have the hospitals, the clinicians and the students. Putting the two together lets us train the healthcare workforce this country needs, and take up research that answers the questions our doctors are asking today.”
Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Group Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani, said, “Healthcare is one of the areas where good engineering makes a direct difference to people’s lives. The collaboration creates opportunities to work with Apollo‘s clinical ecosystem and with a large base of healthcare professionals and students. We bring the technology, data science and a proven model of teaching people who are already working. We expect this collaboration to produce both research and trained professionals.”