In order to promote academic and research co – operation between Pioneer Medical Research Foundation, Novi, Michigan, USA (501 c 3, non-profit Organisation) and Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences – Deemed University, as well as the colleges and health care institutions associated with the university proposed to start cooperation of academic health care and excellence.

Pioneer Medical Research Foundation, Novi, Michigan (PMRF) has created a comprehensive program of train staff, triage, treat and transport of newborns with respiratory distress that can be used by Pediatricians, medical officers and traditional birth attendants in rural area.

The program includes following interventions:

1. Level II NICU: All rural medical centers where more than 10 deliveries happen will be trained and equipped to care for newborns with respiratory distress using high flow nasal cannula systems. Kangaroo care will be made available for babies in Level II centers using Palav Pouch.
2. Backpack NICU: Training of traditional birth attendants to help high risk mothers to be transported to facilities where neonatal care is available. Training the traditional birth attendants to evaluate the newborns in need when the delivery happens at home. Provide them equipment in a backpack so that they can carry the neonatal intensive care to the newborns who are not near the intensive care. They will be trained to perform the essential steps to treat the newborns in distress and transport them safely to a facility where infrastructure and expertise for ongoing care is available.
3. Transport incubators (Rapid): Newborns born in facilities where level II care is available but level III care is not available will be transported to facilities where facilities and infrastructure is available for level III care using RAPID incubator developed by Pioneer Medical Research Foundation.
4. Tracking newborns (Palav Life Connect): Newly designed mobile app will be used to connect the babies in need to those who can save babies in nearby vicinity.
5. Neonatal Nursing Training Program: A twelve week training program with 8 weeks online training created by nursing in the USA. Four weeks program with hands on interactive training from a nursing faculty from US in India. The purpose will be training nursing to handle newborns that are extremely sick including ones on ventilator.
6. Neonatal Clinical Training Program for Clinical and Nursing Administrators: A four weeks observational course for administrators in the USA for administrators evaluate processes used in the NICUs in the USA to help improve outcomes.
7. Neonatal Research Training for Fellows exchange program: 6 Months of research training that would enhance research capacity of institution in India for competitive international grants in future.

Funding : Currently applied for funding in USA through Saving Lives at Birth Foundation