12^th Workshop on Biomedical Informatics & Communication

(Supported by DBT & ICMR)

12^th Workshop on Biomedical Informatics & Communication supported by DBT & ICMR was held at Bioinformatics Centre, JBTDRC, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, during November 20 – 21, 2009.

Inaugural function was held on November 20. Dr. B. C. Harinath, Director, JBTDRC & Coordinator, BIC, welcomed the Guest speakers, Delegates and audience giving a brief on the theme of the Workshop acknowledging the support of DBT & ICMR. Prof. N G Rao, International Advisor, Medical Informatics, Hyderabad was the Chief Guest while Dr. Peyush Goyal, Sr. Scientific Officer – II, DBT, New Delhi, the Guest of Honour who also addressed the gathering. Dr. Satish Kumar, Professor, Biochemistry & Dy Coordinator, BIC introduced the Chief Guest which was followed by address by the Chief Guest. Dr. (Ms) Chhabra, Dean, MGIMS and Dr. O. P. Gupta, Former Dean & Emeritus Professor, Medicine, MGIMS addressed the gathering. Mr. Lingaraja Jena, Information Officer, BIC proposed Vote of Thanks. 

            During two days, with Brief Introduction on BIC’s Thrust and its Activities, theme related  lectures  were (1) Unique National Identifier Initiative from UIDAI and Utility in Healthcare; (2) Bioinformatics: A tool for identifying role of Phytochemicals in Cancer Therapy; (3) Accreditation: Its Impact in the laboratories of A Rural Based Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital- An Experience; (4) Health Information on the Internet Assessing Quality and Reliability; (5) The Importance of Communication between Hospitals, Patients and their Next of Kin; (6) Comparative Genomics of Mycobacteria Aid to Decipher Functional Linkages via Gene Ontology Terms;  (7) Mental Health Care Informatics: Scope and Challenges;  (8) Evidence Based Medicine (BMJ - Evidence Centre: Best Practice); (9) Implementation of Personal Health Record of 21^st Century;           (10) Development of Drug Target Information System for Plasmodium falciparum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were delivered by  Dr. B. C. Harinath (Sevagram); Dr Rajeev Joshi (Pune); Dr. Prasad Wadegaonkar (Amravati); Dr. Monica Gupta (Karamsad);         

Dr. Dileep Bhale (Hingoli); Prof. N G Rao (Hyderabad); Ms. K. Sunitha Manjari (Pune); Dr. Krishna Mohan (Hyderabad); Mr. Prashant Mishra (New Delhi); Mr. Sai Krishna (Hyderabad) and Dr. N. Subbarao (New Delhi).

            Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman & Senior Consultant Cardiac Surgeon, Narayana Hrudayalaya Group of Hospitals, Bangalore delivered lecture on ‘Innovations in Health care delivery’ through Video Conferencing on November 21^st morning. In this session participants had an opportunity to interact with Dr. Shetty on health care management and access of sophisticated Healthcare technology to the poor. This conferencing session continued for most valuable 45 minutes kindly spared by the Angel of Poor, Dr.  Devi Prasad Shetty.

            A special session on Biomedical Communication was organized on November 21.                                        Dr. K Satyanarayana (New Delhi); Dr. Shripad B. Deshpande (Varanasi); Dr. A. Ratnakar (New Delhi);  Dr. S.N. Singh (Pune) emphasized on How to get your paper published; Publication of a Research Study; Open Access Journals and Communication; How to Write Biomedical Research Proposal / Reports with Special Reference to Projects, Dissertation and Thesis. Scientific Communication skills emphasized by the Speakers helped the delegates understand on how to write review articles, research papers, scientific proposals etc.  Dr. Shripad B. Deshpande also interacted with the Delegates on ‘Writing the scientific paper’. Delegates participated in the sessions with enthusiasm and interest.

            Overall emphasis of the proceedings of the Workshop was on Medical / Health Care Informatics, Genomics, Proteomics and Biomedical Communication. Fifteen Guest Speakers and Forty one Delegates attended the Workshop from different states namely New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh & Maharashtra consisting Medial faculty, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics post graduates students and MBA students from Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences, Pune.  The Scientific content and deliberations were well appreciated.

Visitors:

Dr. Parduman Singh, Pune visited the Centre and got acquainted with the ongoing research programmes on December 10, 2009.

Participation in Meetings / Conference / Symposia:

Dr. B. C. Harinath

• Delivered a Guest lecture on ‘Mycobacterial ES-31 Serine Protease of Diagnostic Interest in Tuberculosis & HIV-TB Coinfection and with Potential as Drug Target and Biomarker’ in the 36^th Annual Conference of ACBI (ACBICON-2009) held at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (University), Kochi during November 5-7, 2009.

• Delivered a Guest lecture on ‘Mycobacterial ES-31 serine protease – an antigen, biomarker and with potential as drug target’ in 17^th Annual Conference of AMBI (AMBICON-2009) at JN Medical College, Sawangi (M) on December 12, 2009.

Dr. M.V.R. Reddy

• Presented  a talk on ‘Bioinformatics: It’s potential to turn the world of Laboratory medicine people upside down’ in the Association of Clinical Biochemists of India Professional Course in Clinical Biochemistry at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi on November 3^rd, 2009.

• Delivered a guest lecture on ‘Novel filarial genes and recombinant filarial proteins as effective vaccine candidates’ in the Symposium on ‘Immunology and infectious diseases’ during the Annual Conference of ACBI (ACBICON 2009) at AIMS, Kochi during November 5-7, 2009.

• Chaired International Symposium on ‘Clinical Laboratory Practice’ in ACBICON 2009 at AIMS, Kochi during November 5-7, 2009.

• Presented a talk on ‘Bioinformatics: implications in the discovery of novel biomarkers of diagnostic importance’ in the State level symposium and Workshop on the ‘Role of Bioinformatics  in Biological Research’ at GH Raisoni Institute of Interdisciplinary Sciences, Nagpur on December 17, 2009.

 Dr. Kanchan Mohod presented a paper on ‘Oxidants and antioxidants in pulmonary tuberculosis and its relation with antitubercular treatment’ in AMBICON 2009 at JNMC, Sawangi (M) during December 11-13, 2009.

Dr. Pranita D. Kamble presented a paper on ‘Metabolic syndrome prevalence and associated risk factors in both sexes in rural Wardha’ in AMBICON-2009 at JNMC, Sawangi (M) during December 11-13, 2009.

Dr. Mahendra Gandhe presented a on ‘Immunodiagnostic evaluation of recombinant  filarial antigen  rWbL₂’ in ACBICON-2009 held at AIMS, Kochi during November 5-7, 2009.

Mr. Shivaprasad presented a paper on ‘Molecular cloning, expression and evaluation of rWbL₁ protein for the detection of bancroftian filariasis’ in Annual Conference of Indian Immunology Society (IMMUNOCON 2009) at NIMHANS, Bangalore during December 16-19, 2009

Ms. Kiran Pote presented a paper on ‘Evaluation of protective immunity induced by BmALT-2 + wbGST fusion protein against Brugia malayi infection’ in Annual Conference of Indian Immunology Society (IMMUNOCON 2009) at NIMHANS, Bangalore during December 16-19, 2009.

Awards and  Recognition

• Dr. B.C. Harinath received the ‘ACBI – A.J. Thakur Distinguished Clinical Biochemist of the Year, 2009’ Award for his contributions in Clinical Biochemistry by the Association of the Clinical Biochemists of India (ACBI) at AIMS, Kochi during November 5-7, 2009.

• Dr. M.V.R. Reddy nominated as a Member of International Advisory Board of 12^th Asian Pacific Congress of Clinical Biochemistry during October 3 – 7, 2010 being held at COEX, Seoul, Korea.

• Dr. Kanchan Mohod received the Best Panelist Award at AMBICON 2009 at JNMC, Sawangi (M) during December 11-13, 2009.

• Ms. Anindita Majumdar received the Best Poster Award in the field of infectious disease for the paper entitled “Potential of mycobacterial excretory secretory protein antigens (SEVATB ES-31, ES-43, EST-6 and ES-20) as biomarkers to detect mycobacterium tuberculosis bacilli” by the ACBI at AIMS, Kochi during November 5-7,2009.

• Ms. Richa Sharma received the P.S. Murthy Award for best paper in Development of Drugs from Plant Sources for the paper entitled “Apoptotic rationale: Whether a valid option for anti filarial drug designing?” by the ACBI at AIMS, Kochi on November 5-7,2009.

• Dr. Archana Dhok received 1^st Prize for poster presentation  for the paper entitled “Role of early second trimester  hsCRP for the prediction of Adverse pregnancy outcomes” at AMBICON 2009, at JNMC, Sawangi (M) during December 11-13, 2009.

• Dr.  Mahendra Gandhe received the 3^rd Prize in PG Quiz Competition at AMBICON 2009, at JNMC, Sawangi (M) during December 11-13, 2009.

Arogyadham

• 2 days Naturopathy and Osho Meditation Camp was organized during October 10 -11 2009 at Arogyadham. Facilitator Ma Savithri gave lecture and taught different Osho Meditation Techniques. 15 Participants including Medical Students and other people from Nagpur , Chandrapur, Akola, Wardha attended and got benefited.

• Twelve students from Shri Ayurved Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur visited Arogyadham on October 23^rd 2009. Along with Ayurvedacharya Dr Mukul Guru. They were briefed about the activities and facilities at Arogyadham.

• Twenty one days residential Essence Workshop was organized and facilitated by Ms G.L.  Sampoorna, Counseling Psychologist and Founder, ONEIRIC, Chennai, at Arogyadham, Sevagram during October 24 to November 13, 2009.

Two participants from Ireland, one from US and others from all over India (Assam, Chennai, Visakapatanam, Kolkata), a total of 15 participants attended and got benefited.

Dr. B. C. Harinath, Coordinator, Arogyadham, welcomed Ms G.L. Sampoorna and the participants and briefed about the objectives and activities of Arogyadham. Dr T. Karthickeyan briefed on Importance and Management of disease through Naturopathy and Yoga, Diet and Life style.

Daily schedule of Workshop starts at morning 6.00 AM with walking in beautiful sun rise and sounds of different birds flying in the Herbal garden, and continued with Yoga class which includes Asanas, Pranayama, Meditation, Kriyas, Relaxation techniques. Then prescribed Natural therapies and lectures followed by yoga philosophical study at post lunch session. Participants enjoyed morning walk in 220 acres of lush green Herbal Garden with different flora and fauna (rabbits, peacocks, parrots and many different birds’ sounds). Nutritious diet was served daily.

All participants enjoyed the Rejuvenating natural therapies as prescribed by Nature cure physician.

Ms. Sampoorna lead the workshop by teaching different interesting techniques such as anger release, forgiving, stress relieving etc. All Participants also observed one day complete Silence and awareness for one day. Vipasana meditation was also practiced. Herbal Garden walking, observing Nature, Watching birds in the morning, Group Meditation, relaxation etc. was observed.

The techniques such as  Breathing exercise was taught to relieve stress; Visualization exercise was taught for  developing the personality; Exercise for developing Positive thoughts; Visualization of inner child, Handling anger; Psychic dramas; Exercise for concentration, memory, right brain activation etc. was taught.

Dr. (Mrs.) P. Narang, Secretary, KHS; Dr. (Ms) S. Chhabra, Dean, MGIMS visited during the camp and interacted with the Facilitator at participants at Arogyadham.

            All participants are highly benefited by getting awareness on Yoga and Naturopathy and enjoyed the rejuvenating natural therapies under supervision of Nature Cure Physician.

• 7 Days Yoga camp for Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome was organized at Lloyds, about 15 participants took part and benefited. Dr Pranita Kamble, Lecturer of Biochemistry actively involved in guiding participants in Management of Metabolic Syndrome and prevention of other complicated diseases. Yoga and diet module was given and will be followed for three months.  

• Free Naturopathy and Yoga treatment Camp for Senior citizens sponsored by National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune was organized during December 7-13, 2009 at Arogyadham. 77 Senior citizens were registered. Case screening was done and individual counseling and dietary advice was given. Yoga class was conducted in the morning followed by Naturopathy treatments. 260 different Naturopathy and Yoga treatments (massages, mud bath, sprays, packs etc.) were given for different ailments such as joint pain, arthritis, hypertension etc. under guidance of Dr. T. Karthickeyan, Naturopathy &Yoga Specialist at Arogyadham. 

Dr. S. Sheeba Rani from National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune visited and observed the camp activities and gave lecture on Importance of Nutrition and Diet and Naturopathy. Dr Amrish Saxena gave tips on management of old age problems.   Dr. B. C. Harinath, Director, JBTDRC & Coordinator, Arogyadham welcomed Dr. Sheeba Rani and participants and gave key note address and got feedback from the participants.

Participation in Meetings / Conference / Symposia:

• Dr. T. Karthickeyan attended the 18^th International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its Application Theme – ‘Yoga and Diabetes Underlying Mechanisms’ organized by SVYASA University, Bangalore during December 19-22, 2009.

• Dr. Amrish Saxena, Department of Medicine took keen interest in the Naturopathy and Yoga Treatment  Camp for Senior citizens and also attended 18^th International Conference organized by SVYASA University, Bangalore during December 19-22, 2009.

• Mrs Pooja Om Pohane attended Workshop on Women Empowerment organized by National Institute of Naturopathy, Pune during December 5-7, 2009.

HERBAL GARDEN

Work of the wasteland development of about 220 acres behind Medical Institute was started on October 2^nd 2002 and developed into Arogyadham with Herbal Garden (Aonla – Medicinal plants), with the help of Jain Charities through JISL. Water is brought by a 5-6 Km pipeline from Pawnar river. Presently medicinal plants such as Aonla (22000), Ritha (50), Karanj (103), Neem (292) in addition to Ashoka (155) and Custard apple (105) plants are grown.

The intercrops in between Aonla plants will help in prevention of growth of weeds and thus easy maintenance of Aonla medicinal plants. Premansoon cotton and onion seeds are taken as intercrops in between Aonla plants. This year 50 Nagpur mandarin santra (orange) plants are planted. .