IIIM celebrates Foundation day

Chief guest Prof Sandeep Verma, addressing Foundation Day function at IIIM, Jammu on Wednesday.
Chief guest Prof Sandeep Verma, addressing Foundation Day function at IIIM, Jammu on Wednesday.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Dec 1: CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, a constituent of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), under Union Ministry of Science and Technology, celebrated its 81st Foundation Day here today.
An impressive programme was held at IIIM auditorium in this connection, which was largely attended by eminent scientists, faculty members of research and educational institutions, entrepreneurs, invited dignitaries, guests and members of CSIR-IIIM.
Prof Sandeep Verma, Secretary, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India was chief guest.
In his welcome address Dr D Srinivasa Reddy, Director, IIIM Jammu introduced the chief guest to the audience and described him as a decorated and renowned Chemical Biologist.
His work has been recognized by the Goyal Prize, JC Bose Fellowship, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, DAE-SRC Outstanding Investigator Award, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, BM Birla Science Prize.
Prof Verma in his address referred to the subject, “Strategies in Gaseous neurotransmitter release and New Antibiotics”. He eulogised the composite research platform established at IIIM, Jammu right from the times of its founder Director, Col Sir Ram Nath Chopra till time, he said IIIM has been bestowed with lot number of opportunities in the area of drug development from plants. With all expertise in the area of Natural Products Chemistry, Synthetic Chemistry and Biology are available under one roof, IIIM is a rich resource base for plant-derived drug discovery though numerous challenges are there, including procurement and authentication of plant materials, implementation of high-throughput screening bioassays and scale-up of bioactive lead compounds, said Prof. Verma.
He said there are opportunities for India as it is rich in genetic resources and traditional knowledge, which are key components for bioprospecting and value-addition and these are required to be tapped and scientifically studied.
The chief guest also distributed prizes for different activities on the occasion.
Among others Prof Bechan Lal, Vice Chancellor, Cluster University, Jammu, Dr DM Mondhe, Chief Scientist & Head, Pharmacology Division, Abdul Rahim, Chief Scientist & Head RMBD&IST Division, Dr Gurdarshan Singh, Sr. Principal Scientist & Head, PK-PD Toxicology and Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Sr Principal Scientist & Head IIIM Branch, Srinagar were also, present on the occasion.
Dr Deepika Singh conducted the proceedings while Rajneesh Anand, Chief Scientist & Head of Quality Management & Instrumentation Division, presented vote of thanks.