Signing the agreement, left to right: J.S. Yadav, Ph.D.; Robert A. Rizza, M.D.; Samir Brahmachari, Ph.D.; and Eric D. Wieben, Ph.D.

The rising sun crept into the historic Plummer Building on Mayo Clinic's Rochester, Minn., campus as the Indian delegation entered. Portraits of Mayo Clinic's founding physicians peered down on the assembling group. Eleven members of India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) were visiting Mayo Clinic for three days of talks, working meals and this early morning breakfast gathering that would culminate in the signing of a formal research agreement between the two entities.

The agreement to collaborate on a range of ongoing projects includes emphasis on naturietic peptides in heart disease, metabolomics (genetic-based metabolism studies focusing on obesity), and a range of topics in biological chemistry and medical genomics.

The CSIR is India's national government-chartered research organization, roughly equivalent to the National Science Foundation in the United States, but with aspects of other federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. Professor Samir Brahmachari, who is a noted researcher in molecular biology, is director general of the CSIR and oversees the council's 48 national laboratories and centers. He signed the agreement with Robert A. Rizza, M.D., Mayo Clinic's executive dean for research. Eric D. Wieben, Ph.D., and J.S. Yadav, Ph.D., signed as witnesses for each institution. The relationship will include joint publications, exchange of visiting scientists and coordinated planning on specific ongoing projects. This is the second global research agreement for Mayo Clinic. A formal collaboration with the St. Anne's University Hospital Brno — International Clinical Research Center was signed in September, and an agreement with the Karolinska Institute in Sweden is anticipated in December.