Valedictory Function for IBRO APRC Collaborative Banasthali School of Neuroscience

International Brain Research Organization IBRO (France) Asia Pacific Regional Committee APRC joined hands with Banasthali for a week long session with focus on Neurodegeneration and Neuroinflammation: Molecular Basis to Pathogenesis and Management. The session brought a galaxy of experts in the subject area not only from different parts of India but also from various countries across the world which include USA, UK, Srilanka and Saudi Arabia.

The inauguration for same took place on 21 Aug 2017 with Prof Christopher R McCurdy from University of Florida USA with a key note lecture on Sigma receptor Ligands: From discovery to clinical transformation. Prof G N Saxena from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College Jaipur spoke on Life style Diseases and Stress Management. Dr Saurabh Mukherjee from Banasthali gave a talk on Computational perspective of Medical Images: A Soft computing based Approach which evoked lot of interest among the participants. The dignitaries and participants also visited different departments of Banasthali including the Library.

The second day session started with a talk on Human Neural Stem Cells as Model Systems to Understand Neurodegeneration by Prof Pankaj Seth from National Brain Research Centre Manesar. Dr Fakhrul Islam from University of Jazan Saudi Arabia gave a talk on Neurobehavioral and Neurochemical Aberrations in Parkinson’s disease and its treatment with Thymoquinone. Considering the contemporary interest in Drug Repurposing which generally refers to studying drugs that are already approved to treat one disease or condition to see if they are safe and effective for treating other diseases, Prof Trevor Sharp from University of Oxford UK gave an illuminating talk on the Development of Repurposed Drugs for Neuroscience.

With a talk on Novel Strategies for Neuroprotection by Dr R V Omkumar Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology Thiruvananthapuram, the third day session included two talks by Panjabi University Patiala namely Prof Nirmal Singh who spoke on Neuroinflammatory pathways and therapeutic strategies in dementia of Alzheimer’s disease and Dr Amteshwar Jaggi who spoke on double edged sword of Histone acetylation or deacetylation in neuropathic pain.

Dr Renu Bist from Banasthali BioTech Department whose research interests include cognitive science Neuroscience and Toxicology opened the fourth day proceedings with her talk followed by Prof Sarita Aggrawal from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences Lucknow who spoke on Genetics of Trinucleotide Repeat Disorders. Dr Sandhya Koushika from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research TIFR Mumbai spoke on Traffic Jams in Neurons and Dr Vaibhav Gaur from Cipla Ltd Mumbai gave a talk on Career in Medical Communications.

Apart from Neurodegeneration Puzzle game, during the week, the participants also had an opportunity to have a demonstration session on Sleep Scoring Software, Epoch wireless EEG, Chronic Constriction injury in Rats, Rodent Stereotaxic surgery, nerve conduction velocity etc. Apart from a daylong visit to Pink City Jaipur, the dignitaries and participants during the week also saw Horse Riding Club, Rifle shooting and enjoyed an evening of Music and Dance cultural programme presented by the Banasthali students.

The concluding sixth day opened with a talk on Banking the Brain and Blood – Lifestyle factors, nutrigenomics and nutraceuticals leading to healthy brain aging followed by Prof Arvind Kumar CCMB Hyderabad who spoke on Deregulation of transcriptionally repressive histone lysine methylation based epigenetic mechanisms leading to depression and related psychiatric disorders and a talk by Dr Amit Joharapurkar from Zydus Research Centre Ahmedabad on Why Brain matters in Drug Development for obesity and diabetes.

The valedictory function concluded with prize distribution and group photo session. For the puzzle game, the first prize went to Prof Sharp Team while the second prize went to Prof McCurdy team and third prize was bagged by Banasthali team. With overwhelming participation in poster competition, two categories were made for the purpose of prize distribution. In the first category top prize was bagged by Hafsa Ahmad, second prize by Kirtika Madan and Vandana Deora and third prize by Lakmal Gonawala. In the second category top prize was bagged by Koustav Roy, second prize by Shipra Kartik and Pallavi Rani and third prize by Mohd Salman and Seema Kisan. The dignitaries and participants appreciated team Banasthali for hosting the week long session and expressed their desire to participate in the subsequent sessions also.

For more details about Banasthali see http://www.banasthali.org/

About Banasthali: The Institution which is also the largest fully residential women’s university in the world has played a big role in revolutionizing women’s education in the country for the last eight decades with a belief that there is a tremendous role of higher education in empowering the women. Banasthali has scripted numerous success stories in a wide range of fields, and stands tall among the citadels of learning in India today. Team Banasthali with Vice Chancellor J C Bose Memorial Award for eminent scientist recipient Prof Aditya Shastri a highly acclaimed alumnus of BITS Pilani, SUNY State University of New York Stony Brook and MIT USA is indeed racing forward to be the very best among global women universities. Proud to be Banasthali alumni who call themselves as Banasthalites can be found in all latitudes, longitudes and altitudes in all walks of life across the globe.

Banasthali University
P.O. Banasthali Vidyapith
Rajasthan – 304022
Phone 91 1438 228456 / 228341
Email: info@banasthali.ac.in
Website: http://www.banasthali.org
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This release was published on openPR.