Port Blair, Oct 27: A two day national workshop on ‘Management of Infectious Diseases utilizing Molecular Medicine and Bioinformatics’ was inaugurated by Dr Amit Ghosh, J C Bose distinguished Professor – National Academy of Sciences, National Institute of Cholera & Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata on Wednesday at the Netaji ICMR Centenary Auditorium of the centre.
In his address, Dr Amit Ghosh highlighted the evolution of the Bioinformatics and in the contemporary as an emerging science. Further he exhorted the participants and young researchers to gain expertise in the area of Bioinformatics and utilize the innumerable opportunities from this science. He was pleased to see that the Centre has diversified its research activities which lay impetus on the betterment of health of the marginalized communities and risk reduction and elimination of infectious diseases in these islands. Finally DrGhosh was impressed with the state of laboratory facilities and the quality of research work being undertaken at this centre. He urged the young researchers and participants to make full use of such facilities in the remotest and peaceful part of the country.
The guest of honor, Dr T. Ramamurthy, formerly Scientist “G”, NICED, Kolkata and currently National Chair, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad highlighted the evolution of biomedical research and tools used for the diagnosis of infectious diseases. He told the audience that this workshop was timely and appropriate.
In his welcome address, Dr P Vijayachari, Director, Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR) here said that the recently established Bioinformatics Centre funded by the ICMR is another milestone in the annals of the Centre. He shared the achievements and the vision of the Centre. He told that the field of Bioinformatics is gaining momentum and offers plenty of opportunities in biological and medical sciences viz. geographic genomics, pathogenomics and pharmacogenomics. The main objectives of the workshop is to impart hands on training to the young researchers in this fast emerging field to integrate biological information through computer for understanding newer insights in biological sciences.
About 27 participants from various universities and medical colleges including Shoolini University, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, Govt Medical College, Nizamabad, Telangana and local institutions viz. Andaman Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences (ANIIMS), Jawaharlal Nehru Rajakeeya Mahavidyalaya (JNRM), Central Island Agriculture Research Institute (CIARI), National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Pondicherry University, Brookshabad Campus, Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) attended the workshop which concluded on Thursday.
