All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh, Department of Neurology

Key facts

• AIIMS Rishikesh is described on its official site as an Institute of National Importance under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, established in 2012 under the first phase of PMSSY and made autonomous through the AIIMS (Amendment) Bill 2012.
• PMSSY lists Rishikesh among its six fully functional AIIMS, alongside Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Patna and Raipur.
• The institute reports growth from 200 beds in 2013 to 960 beds on its home page, while its About Us page gives 1,060 inpatient beds, more than 40 departments and 85 specialty clinics.
• The Department of Neurology was started on 3 January 2018 by Niraj Kumar, who was its founding head until March 2023.
• The department page names Mritunjai Kumar, Associate Professor, as head; his listed interests include neuromuscular disease, neurocritical care, electrophysiology and cognitive neurology.
• Listed services include a general neurology clinic, a neurophysiology lab (EEG with video EEG, nerve conduction, EMG, evoked potentials), a 20 bed ward with a 4 bed ICU, stroke thrombolysis, botulinum toxin, lumbar puncture and nerve and muscle biopsy; no CSF prion test, RT-QuIC, genetic test or memory clinic is listed.
• The department runs a three year DM Neurology course, with four residents listed on the page as read.
• The department's prion case series reports seven patients over five years (January 2018 to February 2023): six sporadic CJD with median onset age 59 and median duration 3 months, and one genetically diagnosed GSS.
• In the six sCJD patients, MRI showed bilateral striatal diffusion restriction in all and EEG periodic sharp wave complexes appeared in four of six.
• All four case series authors (Niraj Kumar, Govind Madhaw, Mritunjai Kumar, Ashutosh Tiwari) list AIIMS Rishikesh Neurology; the paper appeared in Ann Mov Disord 2025;8(2):131-135, online 11 August 2025.
• A department neurologist coauthored a 2022 letter, led from Banaras Hindu University, in which MRI and EEG findings suggested a prion disease like process but the authors could not measure CSF 14-3-3 or do post mortem studies, so the diagnosis stayed unconfirmed.
• A Europe PMC search for Rishikesh with prion terms found no other prion research paper from the department; the case series itself is not indexed there.
• The wider department output is mainly movement disorders, including a five year series of 1,140 movement disorder patients (October 2024) and participation as a site in Indian Parkinson disease genetics projects.
• The department was a collaborating site of the ICMR multiple sclerosis registry network (IMSRN), with Niraj Kumar as site principal investigator.
• Department authors have published with Anita Mahadevan of NIMHANS Neuropathology (2021 and 2025 case reports).
• The 2026 Indian prion review by Niraj Kumar, written after his move to AIIMS Bibinagar, states that RT-QuIC is not available in India and calls for a national prion registry.

Timeline

1. 2003PMSSY announced to correct imbalances in tertiary care.
2. 2006Phase I of PMSSY approved, including a new AIIMS at Rishikesh.
3. 2012AIIMS Rishikesh established under PMSSY phase I; AIIMS (Amendment) Bill 2012.
4. 2013Hospital operating with 200 beds.
5. 2017Round the clock emergency services start.
6. 2018Department of Neurology started, with Niraj Kumar as founding head; the case series window opens the same month.
7. 2022Niraj Kumar listed as Additional Professor and Head of Neurology.
8. 2022Letter on a suspected prion disease like illness, coauthored by a department neurologist, published in Aging and Disease.
9. 2023Case series recruitment window closes.
10. 2023Founding head's tenure ends; he moves to AIIMS Bibinagar.
11. 2024Five year series of 1,140 movement disorder patients published.
12. 2025Northern India prion case series published online (print issue May 2025).
13. 2026Department page lists Mritunjai Kumar as Associate Professor and Head.