IIT Madras hosts 3rd Edition of PAN IIT Biotech Meet

Conference brings together Indian & International Research Community to discuss Cancer Precision Medicine, Personalized Therapeutics & Innovation in Cancer Genomics.

INN/Chennai, @infodeaofficial 

Indian Institute of Technology Madras is hosting the Third Edition of PAN IIT Biotech Meet from 31stJanuary to 2nd February 2019, focusing on ‘Cancer Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapeutics’ besides innovation in Cancer Genomics. This is the first time IIT Madras is hosting the PAN IIT Biotech Meet. It is being organized by IIT Madras, Office of International and Alumni Relations, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences and The Mehta Family Foundation, Houston, U.S.

The conference brings together scientists from IITs, Indian Institute of Science and Educational Research (IISERs) and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, as well as the international research community to discuss innovation in cancer genomics, drug development, target selection and the impact of new discoveries in personalized treatment strategies.

Addressing the Inaugural Session, Guest of Honour Mr. Rahul Mehta, Founder, The Mehta Family Foundation, said, “India needs a lot of things to compete in the global market and we want to create programs in key areas needed for India’s growth such as Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Energy, Advanced Materials, and even new areas in life sciences like population health. These are things that are going to change India’s landscape.”

Further, Mr. Rahul Mehta added“Robust ecosystems are needed to bring about Quality Programs and having Masters and PhD programs alone are not sufficient. Our goal is to help build the ecosystem that will fundamentally change the dynamics of quality education. We want to build new things in India and also help create ecosystems around new areas in the country. Only through outstanding research can India become intellectual leader of the world. In the next 50 years, Life Sciences will have more impact on well-being of the society than computing had in the past 50 years.”

Despite the untiring efforts in the combat of cancer, understanding tumour heterogeneity has been the greatest challenge in developing a universal treatment strategy. Researchers have come up with precision medicine and personalized treatment strategies to circumvent these challenges with the help of advancements in cancer genomics.

This conference would provide a platform for eminent and emerging cancer researchers from India (IITs, IISERs and IISc) and abroad to meet, discuss and establish collaboration to achieve the above goal.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi, Director, IIT Madras, who inaugurated the Conference, said, “This conference will feature a number of eminent speakers from India and other countries as well. The idea is to bring together some of the best in the field every year so that the researchers and students can benefit. The young people entering this field, through such conferences, will get a very good idea of how various people are approaching cancer treatment and get a snapshot of recent advancements.”

Despite major developments in the understanding of cancer biology and treatment, cancer remains unconquered. Discovery of cancer genome and research into better targets for treatment may be another frontier in this effort. This conference comes in the wake of announcements of various cancer genomes into the public domain. It is unique as it will bring basic scientists and clinicians on a single platform to discuss issues pertaining to both sides of the coin. Around 300 delegates from across the globe, including India, U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, and Singapore are participating.

Delivering the welcome address, Prof Mahesh V. Panchagnula, Dean (International and Alumni Relations), IIT Madras, said, “This meet has gone from strength to strength. This edition is more of a global meet on a specific topic of great interest to the world today.”

The Conference will cover presentations from cancer genomics with special focus on the advancement in the precision medicine front as well as the development of personalized treatment modalities covering the broad areas: cancer functional genomics, cancer immunogenomics, epigenomics, metabolomics, cancer mouse models and the translation and clinical impact of scientific results.

The conference will also have interactive clinico-molecular panel discussions towards diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of common cancers. There will be lectures / video demonstrations by prominent scientists, with student quiz and other competitions. About 50 poster presentation and 10 oral presentation entries are in the fray for 5 international science and travel awards during this event.

The Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta Family Foundation had a modest beginning in 1998 with the objective of empowering people through its philanthropic activities. It provides educational loans to students, funds university scholarships, medical research, and child welfare projects. The Foundation has been the principal sponsor of both Block I & II of the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences, at IIT Madras.

The IIT Madras, Department of Biotechnology, Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences organized the Second Edition of PAN IIT Biotech Meet – 2017 from 5th to 7th October 2017 at The International Centre-Goa. It brought together researchers from Academia as well as biopharmaceutical industries to discuss progress and challenging problems in synthetic biology and cardio vascular disease. The Honourable Chief Minister of Goa Shri Manohar Parrikar attended the session along with various State and Central Government officials and interacted with the Researchers and faculty.

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