The Department of Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with the Department of Education at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) began an International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) APRC Associate School on “Modern Interventional Tools for Children with neurodevelopmental Disorders” yesterday.
The programme will run until October 30.
The aim of the present IBRO-APRC Associate School 2021 would provide participants with extensive knowledge to understand the modern interventional tools related to cognitive impairment in children with neuro-developmental disorders and improvement in their functional outcome and quality of life.
The school is being held in close coordination with the Society for Neurochemistry India (SNCI) Satellite meeting scheduled immediately on completion of the IBRO School from October 30 to November 1.
The inaugural ceremony was held yesterday in a blended online-offline mode with opening remarks by Dr Dinesh Bhatia, associate professor and coordinator, Biomedical Engineering Department, NEHU, who emphasised need for organizing the school, the selection of the participants and the different aspects which would be covered by experts from India and abroad during the week-long programme. He thanked the officials of IBRO and SNCI for the support rendered in organizing the events.
The school was inaugurated by NEHU Vice-Chancellor Prof PS Shukla as chief guest. Prof Shukla spoke about the impact of modern technology on children with disabilities and how it could be linked to socio-economic factors in the North East. He spoke about Article 7 and the Convention on Rights of the People with Disability (CRPWD) with emphasis on neuroplasticity, cognitive behaviour and inclusive education.
Prof Bibhuti Bhusan Biswal, Director, NITM, who was the guest of honour, spoke about the integration of technology with modern day resources to work for improving the life of people with disabilities. He discussed how to overcome the digital divide and provide education on neuro-developmental disorders to all. The special invited guest, Dr Cheah Pike See, Chair, IBRO APRC from the Universiti Putra in Malaysia, discussed the scope of the IBRO School and the opportunities available to young budding scientists and researchers for seeking funding from the IBRO.
Dr Sanjay Kumar Mishra, senior adviser, Department of Biotechnology, Govt of India and invited special guest, spoke about the opportunities available in India for the researchers to collaborate and work for people with disabilities. He emphasized the importance of organizing such programmes in the country and how it could be linked to policy decision making in the long run. He mentioned how the Cognitive Science Research Initiative concentrated on integrating medical sciences, anthropology, education, psychology, technology and the advanced disciplines to focus on translational research and general disorders.
Prof Donkupar Syiem, director of the Design Incubation Centre at NEHU, spoke about the opportunities available in the region and how they could be integrated for societal benefits. He spoke about the status of such disorders at global level and touched upon learning new technologies such as artificial intelligence, informatics, machine learning, robotics and genome editing.
