Gujarat based media delegation visits CSIR-IIIM

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Sept 1: A media delegation from Gujarat coordinated by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India, visited the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, on Tuesday, getting a first-hand glimpse of the institute’s work in drug discovery, medicinal and aromatic plants, biotechnology, farmer-oriented technologies and startup development.

The delegation, comprising journalists and media professionals from Gujarat representing newspapers, television channels and digital media platforms, interacted with scientists and visited key research facilities to understand how scientific research is being taken from the laboratory to the field and ultimately towards commercialisation and societal applications.

During the visit, Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM Jammu and CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, gave a detailed presentation on the institute’s research programmes, scientific achievements, societal missions and innovation ecosystem.

In his address, Dr Ahmed highlighted that CSIR-IIIM works at the interface of biodiversity, traditional knowledge and modern medicine, with a major focus on natural products, medicinal and aromatic plants and drug discovery.

Dr Ahmed also highlighted the institute’s work under the Aroma Mission and Floriculture Mission, including its contribution to the lavender-based Purple Revolution. He further spoke about the institute’s work across different geo-climatic zones of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, its support to startups and young innovators, and efforts to strengthen the interface between science, industry, agriculture and society.

The delegation was also briefed about CSIR-IIIM’s advanced scientific infrastructure. The institute’s work with farmers was another major focus of the visit. The delegation was also briefed about CSIR-IIIM’s growing startup and innovation ecosystem through its BioNEST Incubator and Atal Incubation Centre.

Later, the delegation visited the institute’s major research facilities, including the Herbarium, GLP Animal House, cGMP Facility, Fermentation Facility and Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) Facility.

Scientists explained the functioning and significance of these facilities and their role in supporting research, pre-clinical testing, quality control, drug manufacturing and scale-up of technologies.

Earlier, Dr Saurabh Saran, PI, BioNEST IIIM-TBI, presented a welcome address, followed by a presentation on the Aroma and Floriculture Missions by Dr Suphla B Gupta, Nodal Aroma Mission. Dr Amit Nargotra, Scientist-F, felicitated the media delegates.