CSIR-IMTECH celebrates its 38th Foundation Day

New Delhi: CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh celebrated its 38th Foundation Day by organizing several events including the much-anticipated Foundation Day Lecture.

Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman & Managing Director of Bharat Biotech International Limited delivered this year’s Foundation Day Lecture virtually on ‘Innovation and Leadership in Pandemic’. Dr Ella in his Foundation Day lecture highlighted how today’s neglected infectious diseases could be tomorrow’s global pandemic and stressed the need to have a coherent strategy to fight infectious diseases.

During his lecture, Dr. Ella highlighted how innovative technology in vaccine development is essential to solve public healthcare problems caused by infectious diseases. He said that Indian pharmaceutical companies need to innovate beyond generic vaccines to be a global player in the vaccine market. He stressed the need for scientists to examine the unknowns that could be the future cause of pandemic through zoonotic and unknown viruses. A serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovative ideas, Bharat Biotech has also ventured into veterinary vaccines, food processing, and developing biotechnology infrastructure in the country. Dr Ella is also involved in shaping India’s science education and policy through his association with several committees.

Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Secretary DSIR & Director General CSIR, who was the Guest of Honor for this event extended his best wishes to IMTECH on its 38^th Foundation Day and asked scientists to focus on microbiome therapies which could be future game changer for treating diseases. He gave a view on innovation related research from an Indian Industry perspective and also announced awards for Dr V C Vora Best PhD Thesis and PhD Research Presentation Awards for the year 2020 and 2021.

Dr. Sanjeev Khosla, Director, CSIR-IMTECH while welcoming the guests and faculty to IMTECH’s foundation day gave a brief background of CSIR-IMTECH and apprised the audience with institute’s achievements during the last year. He also lauded the efforts of scientists and researchers for the work carried out to fight the pandemic during the challenging times of COVID 19.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Khosla said, “IMTECH has been at the forefront of mitigating challenges posed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Right from genome sequencing of clinical samples to developing COVID-19 Subunit Protein based Vaccine POC; from testing products for anti-viral efficacy to developing UV-C Disinfection Systems for Indoor spaces; we have held on to the philosophy that interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts are key to address situations like the current pandemic”

CSIR-IMTECH is a national center for excellence in microbial sciences and was established in 1984. IMTECH’s vision and mission are to create translational ecosystem strengthened by fundamental discoveries and to address unmet healthcare and industrial needs with state-of-the-art processes and platforms respectively.