Bio-data of

Organisation of International Workshops/Symposium

Besides guiding a diverse group of scientists and research scholars, I am involved in fostering international collaborations with various countries under the aegis of Intenational Division of Department of Science. I have organized following 8 International Events during 2004-2012:

1. 
   Indian Co-ordinator of Conference on CBRN Disaster Management and Securities, with United Kingdom as a participating Country during 15-16 February 2012 at FICCI, New Delhi
   
2. 
   Indian Co-ordinator of Indo Taiwan Workshop on Drug Development for Cancer and Infectious Disease: From Basics to Industry. 14- 15 December 2011 under the aegis of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, at ISF College of Pharmacy, Moga, Punjab
   
3. 
   as Coordinator and Organising Secretary of Workshop on Partnership Development Activities (PDA) between Canada and India on Photonic Sensor Technologies for Environmental Monitoring and Homeland Security, 1- 2 March 2011 by DRDO, Government of India, at DRDO Bhawan, New Delhi
   
4. 
   Indian Co-ordinator, Second Indo-South Africa Workshop on Biotechnology & Health, INMAS, Delhi (23-24 November 2009)
   
5. 
   Indian Co-ordinator, South African-Indo Symposium on Biotechnology and Healthcare DST, Pretoria, South Africa (29^th March -1^st April 2009)
   
6. 
   Member, LOC of Indo-US Workshop on ‘Medical countermeasures for radiation injury: current and evolving technologies’, Delhi (17-20 August 2008)
   
7. 
   Indian Co-ordinator, Indo-German Workshop on ‘Recent Trends in Development of PET Pharmaceuticals’, INMAS, Delhi (15-17 November 2005)
   
8. 
   Organising Secretary, Indo-Tunisian Workshop on ‘Biotechnology in Medicine’, INMAS, Delhi (28-30 June 2004)
   

Second Indo-South Africa Workshop on Biotechnology & Health was conducted at INMAS, Delhi during 23-24 November 2009, under the aegis of DST, India. There were 19 invited presentations from Indian as well as South African experts, divided into four technical sessions. Technical session on HIV detection, prevention and management included Drug delivery system for malaria and Tuberculosis, South African HIV/AIDS research, trends in molecular diagnosis of HIV, HIV diagnostics, monitoring and research, inhibition of HIV-1 using Antisense approach and development of biological that block HIV attachment. The second technical session addressed the problem of Tuberculosis with special reference to South African initiative to enable TB research, open source drug discovery initiatives of CSIR in TB, programme on Mycolic Acid antibody real time inhibition Serodiagnosis of TB2, and Anti- Mycolic Acid antibodies as surrogate marker for active tuberculosis. The third session was on drug development including vaccine & medicinal plants. Drug discovery, development of herbal radiation countermeasures, drug development in bone health and osteoporosis, vitamin D and bone mineral density in India, as well as plant derived vaccine were the topics which were covered. The fourth session included nuclear applications in biosciences, National health care strategies for AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria & innovation in drug development cycle using nuclear medicine. Intensive discussions on the above technical areas led to the development of various projects that are presently being considered jointly by Indian and South African DST(s).

The Department of Science and Technology (South Africa) together with the Department of Science and Technology (India) jointly held the first South African-Indo Symposium on Biotechnology and Healthcare DST, Pretoria, South Africa during 30 March - 01 April 2009. The South African delegation was led by Mr. Ben Durham, Manager: Biotechnology and Health Innovation (DST) while the Indian delegation was led by Dr. W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller Research and Development, Defence Research & Development Organisation. South African delegation consisted of Dr Blessed Okole, CEO: EcoBio Innovation Centre: LIFElab; Prof Jan Verschoor, Head: Dept of Biochemistry, University of Pretoria; Dr Lungile Shoba, Platform Manager: Institute of Diagnostic Research; Dr Paolo Meoni, Manager: Drug Development, CSIR; Mr Grant Napier, Manager: Elevation Biotech; Dr Richard Bowen, Executive Manager: Strategy, BioPad; Dr Vuyisile Phehane, Portfolio Manager: Industrial Biotech and Bioprocessing; Prof Ed Rybicki, University of Cape Town and; Prof Barry Mendelow, National Health Laboratory Services. Indian delegation consisted of Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller Research and Development (Life Sciences and Human Resources); Dr R.P Tripathi, Director, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Dehli; Prof D. Behera, Director, LRS Institute for TB and Respiratory Disease, Dehli; Prof M. M Godbole, SG Post Graduate Institute for Medical Research , Lucknow; Dr Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences; Dr Vibha Tandaon, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi; Dr Rajeev Varshney, Scientist, DRDO and Dr Naveen Vasishta, Scientist, International Division, DST. A number of presentations were made during the workshop covering the area of biotechnology and healthcare. These include: Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Laboratory Medicine (infectious disease), Cancer Biology, Vaccine Development including Plant derived vaccines, Diagnostics Kits & Biomarkers, Immuno-diagnostics and Drug Development including Herbal Medicine.
An Indo-German Workshop on "Recent Trends in Development of PET Radiopharmaceuticals" was organized at INMAS during 15-17 November 2005 under the aegis of Indian Council of Medical Research & DRDO, New Delhi and the International Buro, DLR, Bonn, Germany. Shri M. Natarajan, Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri and Secretary, Department of Defence Research and Development, New Delhi inaugurated the Workshop. Dr. W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller, Research & Development, DRDO HQrs presented the Indian Perspective and Prof. Richard P. Baum covered the perspective from German side. Dr. Lalit Kant, Sr. Deputy Director General (HQrs) and Head, International Health Division, Indian Council of Medical Research, released the Souvenir. Ms. Marian Schuegraf, Science Counsellor, Germany Embassy, appraised the participants about the Indo-German Collaborations. Dr. (Mrs) A.M. Samuel, Honorary Consultant, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai delivered the Keynote Address. Prof. Dr. Richard P. Baum from Zentralklinik, Bad Berka, Germany was the German Coordinator and myself was the Indian Coordinator. More than ninety participants from leading R & D Institutions, Hospitals, Industry and Academic Institutions participated in the deliberations. The Workshop reviewed the strengths and capabilities of two countries in the field of PET radiopharmaceuticals. Eight eminent scientists from Germany and 12 Indian Speakers were the resource persons. Two Panel Discussions on centralized Radiopharmacy and R & D with PET were also organized. Dr. W. Selvamurthy of DRDO and Prof. S.D. Seth, of Indian Council of Medical Research coordinated a special session on future directions for collaborative efforts.
An Indo-Tunisian Workshop on “Biotechnology in Medicine” was held at INMAS on 28-29 June, 2004, under the aegis of Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). The workshop was co-sponsored by State Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Technology, Tunisia and organized by Institute of Nuclear Medicine & Allied Sciences (INMAS), Delhi and Defence Research & Development Establishment, Gwalior. I was the Organising Secretary. The participants to this workshop (nearly 75 in number) consisted of a delegation of five eminent scientists from Tunisia visiting India under the frame work of the Indo-Tunisian Scientific cooperation program and scientists, academicians, techno-managerial professions and students from various Universities, Institutions and governmental agencies in India. The inaugural session was held in the presence of his Excellency M. Elyes Kasri, Ambassador of the Republic of Tunisia and the Indian Hosts, which consisted of Dr. W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller. DRDO, Lt. Gen. T. Ravindranath, Director, INMAS, Delhi and Dr. Y.P. Kumar, Advisor, International S & T Collaboration, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi. The Keynote address was delivered by Prof. Samir K Brahmachari, the then Director of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, who gave an excellent overview of how new tools and information of the genome sequencing projects have changed the scenario in the development of new drugs and therapeutics. He also discussed the paradigm shift in medicine i.e. transition from curative and preventive medicine to predictive medicine highlighting the role of information technology in the development of new molecular medicine. The purpose of the workshop was to take stock of the developments and current position of biotechnology in medical and health services. Subjects like biotechnology in medicine including communicable and non-communicable diseases such as bacterial & parasitic infection, Genetic disorders and oncology and Immunopharmaceuticals were deliberated upon during the workshop. A session was also devoted to Techno managerial issues related to the basic and applied aspects of Biotechnology. These presentations were made by the Tunisian delegation headed by Prof. K. Dellagi, and composed of Prof. Ezzedine Triki, Prof. Samir Jaoua, Prof. Lotfi Chouchane and Dr Sonia Abdelhak, besides some of the eminent and leading scientists of India from JNU, AIIMS, ICGEB, CCMB etc. The workshop concluded with panel discussion, chaired by Dr. V. Muthuswamy, Senior Deputy Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. The discussion focused on many aspects of furthering research and development programs in Biotechnology in both the countries including modalities of partnership and follow up of the Indo-Tunisian scientific cooperation in Biotechnology.

5. Interactions with International Experts in CBRN Defence

I visited Swedish Rescue Services Agency, Sweden for a period of 15 days in Nov-Dec 2008 under the aegis of International Fellowship for Senior Bio-medical Scientist of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. I interacted with Regulators, Policy Planners, Emergency Alarm Operators, Fire and Emergency Services, Trainers of a field based training school, Pre-Hospital Care Provider, Decontamination Station and disaster communication.

During my deputation to South Africa (sponsored by Department of Science and Technology), myself and Dr. W. Selvamurthy, DS & CC R&D, DRDO, interacted with National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC), Department Provincial and Local Government (DPLG), Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss their preparedness for handling CBRN incidents during two mega events in sports viz. Indian Premier League Matches in 2009 and Football World Cup in 2010.
I am developing a Collaboration with Office of Security and Counterterrorisn, Home Office UK on CBRN Defence

6. International Scientific Collaborations

I have played a pivotal role and acted as a crucial link both in Business Development and R&D for the following International Collaborations:

• 
  Indo-Italian collaboration between Pavia University and Radiopharmaceutical Department, INMAS on Infection Scintigraphy with special reference to Tuberculosis (Project MH-9 of Indo-Italian POC in S & T 2002-2004)
  
• 
  Indo-Bulgarian collaboration between Trakia University, Stara Zagora and INMAS on Studies on Antioxidants against Oxidative Stress induced by Drugs and Radiation (Project B-57 of Indo-Bulgarian POC in S & T 2008-10)
  

I visited Stara Zagora University, Bulgaria twice to carry out collaborative research studies on EPR.

7. Doctorate Thesis Supervised

Following six students have already been awarded their Ph. D. degrees during 2003-09 and are occupying responsible positions in India and abroad.

1. 
   Investigations on Chitosan nanoparticles as potential drug delivery carriers. Dr. Tanima Banerjee. Ph. D. degree in Chemistry awarded by University of Delhi in July, 2004.
   
2. 
   Studies on the trafficking of smart nanoparticles across blood-brain barriers. Dr. Sheetal Soni. Ph. D. degree in Chemistry awarded by University of Delhi in December, 2006. 
   
3. 
   Radiation-induced apoptosis and its modulation by some herbal preparations. Dr. Sandeep Kumar Shukla. Ph. D. degree in  Biotechnology awarded by Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi in May, 2007. 
   
4. 
   Modulatory effects of some herbal preparations on gamma radiation-induced DNA damage and repair. Dr. Pankaj Chaudhary. Ph. D. degree in Biotechnology  awarded by Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi in July, 2007. 
   
5. 
   Radiation response in mammalion model and its modulation by certain natural plant product (s). Dr. Raman Chawla. Ph. D. degree in Toxicology awarded by Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi in September, 2007.
   
6. 
   Influence of Podophyllum hexandrum on molecular regulation of genes responsible for radioprotection in vivo and in vitro. Dr. Pankaj Kumar Singh. Ph.D. degree in Biotechnology awarded by Jamia Hamdard University, Delhi in July, 2008.
   

Four students are presently enrolled. Two of them are in advance stage of submission of Thesis.

8. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

Developed Memorandum of Understanding with following 5 national scientific & academic institutions to foster R&D activities:

1. 
   Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
   
2. 
   Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology
   
3. 
   Jamia Hamdard University
   
4. 
   RRL, Jammu
   
5. 
   IHBT, Palampur
   

9. Transfer of Technolgies

Following three NBC products and technologies developed during 2003-2010 have been transferred to Industries and are commercially available:

• 
  2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2-DG) – a differential modifier of radiation response (ToT to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, Hyderabad)
  
• 
  Protective Clothing for Quick Reaction Medical Team (ToT to M/s Bengal Waterproof Limited, Kolkata on (27^th September 2005)
  
• 
  Shudhika- for radiation decontamination (ToT to M/s Raksha Polycoats, Pune on 26^th October 2004)