The Department of Life Sciences had organized Science Academies’ Lecture Workshop on “Progress in Understanding of Disease Biology” in collaboration with the three Science Academies - Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, and The National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad on 22nd and 23rd February 2017. The event started at 9.30 am on February 22 with a short inaugural ceremony in Room No 911, Central Block of CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Central campus. The Welcome address was given by Dr. Suma S, who was the coordinator of the workshop. The Presidential address was given by Dr. Surendra Kulkarni, Dean of Science, CHRIST (Deemed to be University). The event was inaugurated by Prof. Ravi Sundaresan, Asst Professor, Dept of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The annual newsletter of the Department of Life Sciences, BIO LINK 2017 edited by Dr. Sayanatan, Asst Professor, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) and Prof Vasantha, Asst Professor, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) was also released after the inauguration. A video on Disease Biology depicting the theme of the workshop was played before the start of the technical session.

The first session was given by Dr. Ravi Sundaresan on Cardiac Hypertrophy. The other speakers included Dr. Dipshika Chakravortty, Professor, Dept of Microbiology and Cell Biology IISc, who was also the convener of the workshop, Dr. Reeta Mani, Associate Professor,  Dept of Neurovirology, NIMHANS and Dr. Amit Singh Assistant Professor, MCB,  IISc. About 180 students and faculty members from 19 colleges and research institutes actively participated in the workshop. On the final day, Dr. Suma conducted a Quiz on the talks of the two days to check the level of understanding by the participants. There was a very good response to this, which showed the interest of the participants. During the valedictory ceremony, Prof Dipshika Chakravortty,  Convenor of the workshop encouraged the students to do research on interesting topics in Life Sciences. The two-day event ended with a vote of thanks by Nevin Kuriakose, the student coordinator of the workshop.

The two-day workshop gave a lot of insights into the progress made in the past few years on understanding the biochemical, molecular, and epidemiological factors associated with human diseases. Emphasis was given on diseases caused due to pathogens like bacteria and viruses and also lifestyle diseases including heart attack. The students were able to get first-hand information on research aspects from experts who do brilliant research in reputed institutes like IISc and NIMHANS. Overall the workshop proved to be a very enlightening one for all the participants.