The 40th annual meeting of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences (IAN) kick-started today in North-Eastern Hill University here along with the conference and workshops. The event was organised by the 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) of 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 40th meeting of IAN kick-started with a pre-conference workshop attended by students of schools and colleges. The workshop saw the presentation of lectures by the eminent scientists, doctors, and researchers.
The three-day conference will see the participation of around 450 delegates from different parts of the country and abroad like the US, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe etc.
Prof. Hussain, Dean of School of Technology thanked the IAN for choosing NEHU as the venue for the meeting and the conference.
He mentioned how the Department of Biomedical Engineering, NEHU is helping in the rise and growth of NEHU by doing extraordinary research. He spoke about the uses of Biomedical Engineering in finding the solutions to difficulties related to health, especially the neuro diseases.
Prof. Vijay K Khanna, Secretary, IAN headquarters mentioned that he was happy that a physical conference and meeting is being conducted after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. He also said that this will help in meeting scientists 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 Banaras Hindu University and five scientists from the US, two from Singapore and one from Malaysia.
Prof. (Dr.) Nalin Mehta, the chief guest of the event spoke at length about the importance of conducting research in the field of neuroscience. 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.
Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU in his speech mentioned that 3000 papers are published annually in the world on neuroscience, however, of these 3000 papers, a mere 2 per cent 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 said.
