Date: Dec 8, 2022
The XL (40th ) Annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences(IAN) kickstarted today in North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong along with the conference and workshops. The event was organised by Department of Biomedical Engineering, NEHU, Shillong.
Prof. (Dr.) Nalin Mehta, Director of NEIGRIHMS graced occasion as the Chief Guest while Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, Vice-Chancellor, NEHU was the Guest of Honour. Also present were Prof. Ishan K, Patro, President of IAN, Prof. Trichur R. Raju, Dean of IAN, Prof. Vinay K. Khanna, Secretary, HQ, IAN, Prof. Pankaj Seth, General Secretary, IAN and Prof. Md. Iftikhar Hussain, Dean, School of Technology, NEHU.
The event started with the felicitation of the chief guest and the dignitaries present on the dais and lighting of the lamps by the dignitaries. Dr. Sudip Paul, organising secretary of the meeting and conference welcomed the chief guest, the dignitaries and delegates. The organising secretary mentioned that the 40th meeting of IAN kickstarted with pre-conference workshop which was held earlier in the morning which was attended by school students of schools and colleges. The workshop saw the presentation of lectures by the eminent scientists, doctors, and researchers. He also mentioned that the 3 day conference will see the participation of around 450 delegates from different parts of the country and abroad like US, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe etc. He thanked and praised Prof. Shukla, Vice-Chancellor of NEHU for the support and encouragement showered on the organising committee for organising this international conference. He mentioned that this year nehu is celebrating 50 years and it's a privilege and honour to organise such a big event which also co-incides with the celebration of one decade of the foundation of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Prof. Hussain, Dean of School of Technology thanked the IAN for choosing NEHU as the venue for the meeting and the conference. He mentioned that the Department of Biomedical Engineering is doing a lot of research in cutting edge technologies. He mentioned how Department of Biomedical Engineering is helping in the rise and growth of NEHU by doing extraordinary research. He spoke about the uses of Biomedical Engineering is finding the solutions to difficulties related to health especially the neuro diseases. He spoke about the IAN in detail and the purposes of conducting such meeting and conferences at lengths. He also said Biomedical Engineering is also working in the field of customised medicines. He congratulated Department of Biomedical Engineering for taking such a step in organising a big conference and conducting XL meeting of IAN.
Prof. Vijay K Khanna, Secretary, IAN headquarters appreciated the efforts of Dr. Paul for organising the event in NEHU. He said “As most of us are aware the academy has been promoting neuroscience and catalysing the work on neuroscience, there is a huge rise in the work being done both at basic research level and clinical level. Understanding the structure and status of the brain is a difficult work and doing work in the field is a huge task”. He mentioned that the theme is chosen aptly as the research in the neuroscience has improved a lot. He said he is sure that scientific deliberation during sessions will help in understanding basic and clinical works being conducted around the world. He also mentioned that he was happy that physical conference and meeting is being conducted after 2 years of pandemic. This will help in meeting scientist and students both old and new to make contacts and share knowledge.
The inaugural function also saw the felicitation of new IAN fellows which was announced by Prof. Trichur R. Raju, Dean, IAN. Among the new fellows felicitated were Prof. Jayasri from IISER KOLKATA, Prof. Usa Panjwani from DIPAS, NEW DELHI, Prof. S. P. Singh from Benaras Hindu University and 5 scientists from USA, 2 from Singapore and 1 from Malaysia respectively.
Prof. Ishan K Patro, President IAN in his speech said that he was missing stalwarts of IAN who founded the academy. He exhorted that Neuroscience is a field of medical science. Research helps to gather information of brain and how it works. The research has helped in finding the causes of neuro diseases, remedies and cure. It has also helped finding ways to maintain a healthy brain. He mentioned all the major scientist and doctors who have contributed to the work neuroscience. Understanding the behaviour neurons is very important and so research in the field of neuroscience should be encouraged. He also mentioned that even subjects like economics is studying neuro economics. He exhorted on the fact that it is important to understand biological behaviour human brain to understand the neuro related diseases.
Prof. (Dr.) Nalin Mehta, the Chief Guest of the event spoke at lengths about the importance of conducting research in the field of neuroscience. Neuroscience is a field of study which needs to be explored more in order to understand how the neurons and brain work. He exhorted on the point that research on neuroscience can be conducted by sharing the knowledge, findings and ideas for better output. He emphasised on collaborative work. He also put forward the idea of engineers and doctors working together to understand various neuro related diseases which could help in finding the cure and remedies for the diseases and disorders. He mentioned many a times, people tend to misunderstand the neuro related diseases and disorders and proper sensitisation and study for the same is much needed.
Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU in his speech thanked the efforts of Late Prof. K.P. Bhargava, Late Prof. Mahdi Hasan, Prof. S.S. Parmar, Late Prof. B.N. Dhawan, Prof. P.K. Seth and other eminent neuroscientists for their hard work in the formation of Indian Academy of Neurosciences without which the research in the field would not have reached where it is today. Ever since its inception the Academy has been active in promoting neurosciences and has been holding meetings regularly at different centres involved in neuroscience research in the country, he said. He also mentioned that neuroscience can help us understand the underlying molecular factors behind mental disorders, as well as where and how to focus research and treatment. He mentioned 3000 papers are published annually in the world on neuroscience, however, of these 3000 papers, a mere 2% of the annual work done around the world is from India. This needs to change and IAN is the right platform to change this trend. He exhorted on the fact that The trend should be upwards not stagnant. I am sure with the organization of the IAN meeting in Shillong, many doctors and scientists will be inclined towards producing more work in Neurosciences. At the end of the speech, the Vice-Chancellor urged the President and executive members of IAN to open a chapter in NEHU, Shillong.
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