CSIR-IMTECH discusses opportunities, challenges in anti-microbial drug discovery

Participants looking at the charts displayed at international conference by CSIR-IMTECH.
Participants looking at the charts displayed at international conference by CSIR-IMTECH.

Excelsior Correspondent

CHANDIGARH, Oct 5: CSIR- Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) on day two of the three day international conference discussed in detail about opportunities and challenges in anti- microbial drug discovery and human microbiome in health and disease.
Speaking at the occasion through video conferencing, Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, stressed that all academic institutes should work in unison with industries and regulatory bodies to meet unmet medical needs of India. She also  suggested that such close interactions will pave path to forge new R & D partnership and alliances between industry and research Institutions and lead to more product/ technology development output.
Dr Graeme Bilbe, Director R&D, DNDi, advocated for policy change to make treatments available and affordable to all the patients. DNDi is a collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development (R&D) organization that is developing new treatments for neglected diseases.
On this occasion, Dr Anil Koul, Director, IMTECH emphasized on new drug development for tuberculosis and reaffirmed India’s commitment to eradicate TB by 2025.
Other speakers who contributed to day two of anti-microbial drug discovery were Dr Kobayashi, Daiichi Sankyo, Japan and Dr Neeraj Dhar, Global Health Institute, Switzerland.
How host microbe interactions can provide opportunities for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of a variety of human diseases were highlighted in the session “Human microbiome in health and disease”. The session on the human microbiome included five scintillating talks by experts from both academia and industry, which were chaired by Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB, Hyderabad. The speakers of the session were Dr  Sam Possemiers, Managing Director at ProDigest, Ghent University, Belgium;  Dr  Sourabh Dutta, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, PGIMER, Chandigarh;  Dr  Sharmila Mande, Chief Scientist and Head, Biosciences R&D, TCS, India;  Dr. Prabhu Patil, Senior Scientist, CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh and Dr  Neerja Hajela, General Manager, Science and Regulatory Affairs, Yakult Danone India Pvt. Ltd.
The panel discussion included the experts, Dr Sam Possemier, Dr Sourabh Dutta, Dr Suresh Korpole, Senior Scientist, CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh, Dr Dinabandhu Sahoo, Director, Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development, India, and Dr Usha Dutta, Professor of Gastroenterology, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

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