Webinar on “Lessons from Covid-19 second wave”

Date : 2021-05-21

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_KncSBrSI

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Webinar on “Lessons from Covid-19 second wave” was organized under DST NU-TEC platform on May 21, 2021. Prof. Dr. Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, Vice-Chancellor, Nitte DU in his opening remarks highlighted the importance of the webinar. He noted that as India reels under a massive second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with an alarming rise in positive cases and deaths, it is important for us to be well prepared to face the unprecedented challenge of third wave ahead. The webinar focused on core topics that included whether the second wave of Covid-19 could have been prevented, impact of genomic variants in India, vaccination drive and its constraints and public response and preparedness for the third wave. The speaker of the webinar Prof Dr V Ravi, Nodal officer for SARS CoV2, Genome Sequencing, Government of Karnataka, summarised lessons from the first and second wave of Covid-19. He asserted that the first wave predominately affected the elderly, people with comorbidites and that the transmission was related to travel history or contact with symptomatic individuals. He further explained that the mortality is linked with aggressive immune response and not the attribute of the virus. However, some of the new variants of virus can be more transmissible than the parent virus. New variations in the virus could be due to the poor proofreading activity of RNA dependent RNA polymerase resulting in the change of amino acid which may happen when virus replicates in a host consequent to the immunological pressure. Implications of the new variant could be in transmission, replication and vaccine escape. Currently there are 5 variants which are of concern. B.1.617.2 is the most predominant circulating strain in Karnataka. To sum up treatment strategy Prof Dr Ravi said that the spectrum of illness was vast affecting multiple systems. Covid-19 related symptoms worsen after 5 days which requires critical monitoring and this fact correlates with the relevance of monitoring inflammatory response and stress markers at this period. Remdesivir, an antiviral drug shows effective results and steroids help to reduce the mortality associated with the disease. Further, he emphasised that vaccines do not prevent the infection rather it reduces the course and severity of illness. There are no significant differences reported in terms of neutralization of Covid-19 variants by various vaccines currently available. In conclusion he noted that emergence of second wave was majorly due to superspreading events like crowding and rise of new virus variants and to tackle the third wave it demands vaccination coverage and Covid appropriate behaviour. The webinar was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Iddya Karunasagar, Senior Director (International Relations) Nitte DU and moderated by Prof Dr. Indrani Karunasagar, Director, DST NU-TEC. YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW2MEfy2CrY

Last updated 2021-06-14 06:19:07

Medical Hackathon

Date : 2021-03-26

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Hackathon 2021 was organized by Nitte Atal Incubation Centre in association with the Institute Innovation Council (IIC) of Nitte (DU). The event was coordinated by NU-TEC at the NIA-NICO auditorium premises followed by an interactive meeting and discussion with Prof Dr Iddya Karunasagar at DST NU-TEC centre. The theme of the Hackathon centred around solving the most impactful problems in healthcare which was relevant to the prevailing pandemic situation. Solutions to various health related problems require a multidisciplinary approach for a healthy society and a thriving economy. A galaxy of healthcare experts from various departments of KSHEMA that included ENT, OBG, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Anaesthesiology, Psychiatry, Internal medicine and Cardiology addressed the budding, enthusiastic technocrats. Prof Dr Satheesh Kumar Bhandary Hon’ble Vice Chancellor enlightened the audience on the need for this hackathon. The event was presided over by Prof Dr Shantharam Shetty. Prof Dr Indrani Karunasagar in her welcome address highlighted the objective of DST TEC as one of nurturing the innovator. Young research enthusiasts and entrepreneurs participated and interacted with Dr Iddya Karunasagar who explained the role of DST TEC in mentoring.

Last updated 2021-12-30 07:15:40

Webinar on “Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem in campuses”

Date : 2021-03-22

Link : YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtH0-IyYao

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Webinar on “Entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem in campuses” was organized under DST-NUTEC platform on March 22, 2020. Dr Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor, Nitte DU in his opening remarks highlighted that innovation is the key for economic prosperity of the country. Dr Indrani karunasagar in her remarks highlighted and explained the purpose of setting technology enabling centre and gave a glimpse of various activities conducted at the centre towards bridging the gap between industry and academia. Keynote speaker of the webinar Prof S. Ganga, Mentor-in-Residence, Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, IIT Mumbai, explained about CAWACH (Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health crisis) rapid response system model in connection with the start-ups that was created at the time COVID-19 crisis. Prof S Ganga gave updates on various policies available for the start-ups, challenges faced by start-ups, steps involved in technology transfer from lab to market. She also briefed upon various aspects of ecosystems, role of academia and organizations to reach out to students and entrepreneurs and how alumni network can strengthen the start-up ecosystem. She emphasised that institutional policies should be aligned with host incubators to create the best ecosystem. The webinar was moderated by Prof. Dr Iddya Karunasagar and went on for a duration of 1 h 47 min. YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtH0-IyYao

Last updated 2021-06-16 05:07:48

World Food Day

Date : 2020-10-16

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0cTg9zKxbE

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Webinar on “World Food Day” was organized under DST NU-TEC platform on October 16, 2020. The objective of the webinar was to discuss on food safety and innovative food processing technologies to accelerate the growth of the food processing sector in India. Prof. Dr Iddya Karunasagar gave the introductory remarks, wherein, he highlighted the theme for world food day 2020- “Grow, Nourish, Sustain. Together. He also gave a bird’s eye view on role of FAO and WHO on food safety and food security as well as guidelines set by these bodies towards food regulation. Dr S. Dave is a Former Advisor in FSSAI and has been the Chairman of Codex Alimentarius Commission (2011-2014). Dr Dave spoke on the topic ‘The national context of food safety’. In his talk, he emphasized on how food safety is everyone’s responsibility. He stated that widespread collaboration and contribution of all actors (farmers, food processors, industrialists, food scientists, consumers and retailers), across the food supply chain underpinned by robust governance, agreed international standards and harmonized regulations are essential to food safety. Dr Eram S. Rao is the Vice Principal and Head of Department of Food Technology of Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi. Dr Rao delivered a lecture entitled ‘Innovative Food Processing Technologies to accelerate the growth of the food processing sector in India’. Through her presentation Dr Rao explained how innovative technologies are the key to building more robust food processing system. Prof. Dr Indrani Karunasagar, Director DST NU-TEC, spoke on water quality and public health and highlighted that water quality is deteriorating and today we have to depend on various kinds water purifiers. The quality of water is important for growth of crops, fishes and keeping a check on water pollution is important. The Webinar was moderated By Dr Mamata Bangera and Dr Feby Lukose.

Last updated 2021-02-13 04:46:42

Interferon’s and cytokines in viral diseases and implications for COVID-19

Date : 2020-09-22

Link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqumLNTWCS4

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The emergence and the spread of Covid-19 has led to an unprecedented situation around the world. Research on strategies to accelerate diagnosis, vaccines and therapeutics for this novel coronavirus is the need of the hour. In this context a webinar on “Interferon’s and cytokines in viral diseases and implications for COVID-19” was conducted on September 22, 2020, to understand the challenges associated with research on this novel virus and to get an insight on the latest developments related to Covid-19 research. The webinar was moderated by Dr Iddya Karunasagar, Senior Director (International Relations), Nitte (Deemed to be University) and Dr Indrani Karunasagar, Director (R & D), Nitte (Deemed to be University). Dr Indrani Karunasagar explained the relevance of the present webinar topic. The opening remarks were delivered by Dr Harsha Halahalli, Curriculum Director & Professor of physiology, Nitte (Deemed to be University) wherein he described the research activities of the University and gave a glimpse of the complex response of cytokine in viral infections, being an astute researcher himself. The invited speaker, Dr Ram Savan, Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, University of Washington, gave a preview of basic immunology and its evolution over the period of time followed by detailed lecture on the implications of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in response to viral infection. He revealed the research data findings that showed the SNP located in interferon in case of Hepatitis C virus, and how they affected the disease outcome. The webinar concluded with the remarks that DNA is constantly evolving along with the pathogens and any nucleotide change in the DNA can affect the outcome of a particular disease.

Last updated 2021-02-13 04:30:44