The Honourable Dutch Health Minister, Mr. Bruno Bruins, accompanied by a delegation of nearly eight other health officials visited the Bangalore Life Sciences Cluster (BLiSc) on May 25th, 2018.
The visit commenced with an overview of NCBS, inStem and CCAMP by Cluster Director, Prof. Satyajit Mayor, joined by several other scientists of the Cluster such as Prof. Upinder Bhalla (Dean, NCBS), Dr. Taslimarif Syed (Director & CEO, C-CAMP), Dr. Raghu Padinjat and Dr. Mukund Thattai. The scientists shared their incremental contributions towards the development of a well-rounded scientific institution that BLiSc represents today. This exchange was followed by a tour of the Centre for Chemical Biology and Therapeutics (CCBT) which works towards understanding the fundamental aspects of human diseases led by Dr. Padinjat and Dr. Sumantra Chatterjee.
One of the aims of the Dutch delegation visit was to get acquainted with the Indian Health Care sector and seek new opportunities for collaboration. Towards this objective, C-CAMP organised an Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Indo-Dutch workshop featuring speakers from the Erasmus Medical Centre (Erasmus MC) along with Indian innovators and start-ups. In his address, the Dutch Health Minister commented, “We are reliant now, more than ever, on antibiotics and yet antimicrobial resistance has reached levels where we may soon die of scratches. The Netherlands and Erasmus MC are happy to collaborate with CCAMP & BLiSc to tackle AMR”. Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed remarked, “In India AMR is a huge concern. At C-CAMP we are working on innovations in three areas of AMR: Prevention, Diagnostics & Drug Discovery. These areas present collaborative opportunities with Erasmus MC.”
Prof. Curt Burger (Vice-Dean, International Affairs, Erasmus MC) & Prof. Jan Nouwen (Associate Professor, Infection & Immunity, Erasmuc MC) introduced the graduate programme at the Erasmus MC and discussed opportunities for graduate and postdoc student exchange programs between the BLiSc and Erasmus MC.
The visit culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BLiSc and the Erasmus MC allowing the development of enduring relations between the two centres. Here’s to a long and fruitful alliance.
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