One Week One Lab Mega Gala
We celebrated the One Week One Lab (OWOL) program from 18 – 23rd September 2023.
Dr. Rajesh Gokhale was the chief guest of honor on 18th, the inauguration day, which saw the launch of a comprehensive multi-omics database of Indian breast cancer patients generated as part of the CSIR- India Breast Cancer Genome Atlas (IBCGA) program. Dr. Shantanu Chowdhury, and the Directors of CCMB, ACTREC Mumbai talked about the purpose, challenges and methods that were used and will be implemented using IBCGA. The importance of such a database was highlighted by Dr. Nirmal Ganguly, Padma Bhushan awardee and our guest of honor.
Akashvani, All India Radio recorded Dr. Souvik Maiti’s interview. It can be heard in this youtube video.
On Day 2 of OWOL, 19th September 2023, we organized a Clinicians’ Connect Day. The institutional research immersed exhibits were showcasing the on-going projects and research activities of the institute.
We saw the inauguration of Phenome India CSIR Health Cohort Knowledgebase (PI-CHeCK) on this day. It is going to be the largest pan-CSIR project that will be testing, analyzing, and predicting disease risk for all the CSIR employees including pensioners. Dr. Shantanu Sengupta and his team spoke about the project in length followed by inauguration of the portal where the participants will register, take an exhaustive questionnaire about their health status and lifestyle. The reports for the blood tests and other scans that the participants will undergo would also be available to them on this portal. One of the biggest technological advancements is the data safety measures for this portal that would help keep the information of the participants anonymized.
The keynote speaker Dr. Vivekanand Jha of George Institute for Global Health who spoke on ‘Promoting Clinical-Scientist Convergence in India’, also highlighted the importance of PI-CHeCK.
On Day 3 of OWOL, the Industry Day, Dr. N Kalaiselvi, Director General CSIR graced our event by her presence online. She visited the institute (although in online mode) after a year. The day saw interaction and dialogues with various industry partners.
On Day 4 of OWOL, we organized an Open Day at both our campuses. School students, college students, teachers and patients were seen moving around excitedly and with curiosity lit eyes. With around 11 exhibits at Mathura Road campus and over 20 at Mall Road, we shared our zest for research with kids. There was also an institute tour planned for students at Mathura Road campus along with a treasure hunt.
Students visited us from Rajasthan (Sikar & Jhunjhunu) and UP (Bulandhsahr, Bijnor, Firozabad, & Meerut) in addition to Delhi NCR. Some of them started a day before this big event and others in the early morning hours (at 4 am) to reach the venue on time. KAMP, our event partner, made it possible to register 1300+ students for the Open Day.
Two major highlights of the day were – release of ‘Sparks’ a print magazine for and by the kids and the inauguration of Ramanujan Hardy lab which will be witnessing the growth and will be nurturing some of the future scientists of the country. Our motto being to be the Hardy for today’s Ramanujan.
Some of the audio bytes as recorded by the Akashvani AIR team from our PhD scholars can be heard here.
A special prize was announced for the Best Science Communicator of IGIB in the year 2023. Dr. Sangeetha K won the prize for her outstanding science communication activities during 2023.
Two teams got a special mention by the jury members – Dr. Munia Ganguli, Dr. Sheetal Gandotra and Dr. Jitendra Narayan. This is what the jury members had to say about the winner and the other two teams.
“Sangeetha has served as an exceptionally dedicated and innovative science ambassador at CSIR-IGIB. Her impactful contributions, conveyed through a diverse range of media such as videos, podcasts, and various other art forms, are truly commendable. Furthermore, her unwavering commitment to effectively communicate science via social media platforms has been a consistent and invaluable asset to the Institute.”
“The team of Ashish, Swati, Lovely and Prachi has created a comprehensive video on the autoimmune malady known as Rheumatoid Arthritis by engaging with doctors, researchers and patients. Their work conveys the pivotal importance of research in tackling this disease, and delved into the viewpoints of both patients and healthcare practitioners. By incorporating interviews with a patient and a doctor hailing from AIIMS, New Delhi, they have enriched the content with valuable insights.”
“Prachi and Jeyashri contributed to an engaging set of podcasts under the banner IGIB et al. Under this series, they together created three podcasts that touched upon diverse areas. What stood out in the series they undertook was their reach to the public. Specifically, their podcast on World AIDS Day stood out for their effort in capturing awareness or the lack of it for this well researched infectious disease. What was evident through their podcasts was their ability to get the public to participate on an issue that many would shy away from. It also brought to light how much needs to be done on educating the public on health related issues.”
On Day 5 of OWOL, one of the IGIB teams visited University of Kashmir for a two day seminar and at the institute Appreciation Day celebration was organized by the research scholars. With a stellar talk by Dr Mila Mitra, academic head of STEM and Space, and the big idea competition, the day and the week was wrapped up with music, dance and cheers for all.
The Zebrafish workshop which started on 22nd September is covered in a separate post – A Hands-on Workshop on Zebrafish Techniques.
CSIR Foundation Day
IGIB exhibited its research and outreach activities at Pragati Maidan on 26th and 27th September in the 82nd CSIR Foundation Day celebration. The whole institute visited Pragati Maidan for this two day mega event.
