The largest meeting of neuroscientists in India took place in Manesar as the National Brain Research Centre hosted the 34th annual meeting of the Indian academy of neurosciences (IAN 2016) from 19 - 21 of October. More than 300 researchers from all over the world came together for talks and discussions on a wide variety topics in neuroscience. The topics covered the gamut of latest neuroscience research topics; sleep, bilingualism, yoga, herbal neuroprotective agents, neuroinflammation, multi-sensory perception, adult neurogenesis, neurodegenerative disorders etc.

The meeting started with pre-conference workshops for students to equip themselves for a career in neuroscience research. The DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance conducted a hands-on workshop on science communication, where students were trained to write manuscripts and research grants. A component of the workshop also involved a talk that introduced options in alternate careers in science. The second workshop was for researchers on neurostereology and pain assessment in animals, which was conducted by the department of neurophysiology and anatomy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi.

The meeting kicked off on 19th with a plenary talk by Gaiti Hasan of National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore. She talked about the role of intra-cellular calcium dynamics in the normal neural development. Her research showed some striking phenotypes in drosophila which were deficient in proteins involved in intra-cellular calcium dynamics.

The NBRC campus was bustling with activity as parallel sessions were conducted in three venues. On the first day, a session on role of non-nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in nicotine dependence discussed the implications of this research in cessation of smoking. Another session showcased research on genetic and environmental perturbation and its influence on psychiatric developmental disorders.

A symposium on multi-level integration of brain function was conducted with invited talks from some of the leading systems neuroscientists in the country. The first talk was on how the visual system interprets the world around us by Arun Sripati of Centre for Neural Science (CNS), Indian Institute of Science (IISc). This was followed by a talk on mu-opiod receptor modulation of vocal behavior in zebra finches by Soumya Iyengar of NBRC. She showed how manipulating the mu-opiod system in live birds caused them to cease their singing behavior. Next, James Gomes of IIT Delhi talked about modelling biological networks using sequential sub-theory.

The second day started with the ISN Wiley Blackwell JNC international lecture by Kendal Swartz from NINDS USA. He talked about the structure and function of heat sensing channel TRPV1 and its role in temperature sensing capacity of skin. Following which, Aditya Murthy of CNS, IISc talked about the computational mechanisms underlying simple and complex movements. Abutalebi Jubin of Vita Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy shared results from his research on the neuroprotective role of multilingualism. He showed how people who speak many languages have healthier brains and can protect from neurodegeneration and normal aging process.

Amid serious scientific sessions that saw spirited scholarly discussions, hundreds of children from various local schools were invited to pack the auditorium for an interaction with the scientists. The session started with a short talk by Nihar Jana of NBRC on brain plasticity, following which the students asked questions to a panel of scientists. The evening also saw a special lecture from Brigitte Roeder from University of Hamburg who talked about how the multi-sensory systems brain develops with experience during early childhood.

On the final day, there were three plenary lectures; Ted Abel talked about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of long term memory storage, Chitra Sarkar on the molecular mechanisms of Gliomas and Vidita Vaidhya on the modulation of adult neurogenesis by norepinephrine and thyroid hormone. The final day also saw competitions for the best oral presentations for the DM Kar Prize and Tulsabai Somani Educational Trust Prize which are given out annually at the IAN meetings. The competition was open to young scientists from all over India and was hotly contested.

Another special attraction was a symposium organised by IAN-FOANS symposium on brain health. Scientists from Japan, Sri Lanka and India presented research on the connection between herbs and mental health. Talks discussed the neuroprotective and somnogenic properties of many drugs including Ashwagandha and Ceylon tea. Another session dedicated to popularising yoga was introduced, where practitioners of yoga talked about its benefit and a demonstration was also held.

The meeting ended with an anecdotal recollection of the history of the IAN by PK Seth, eminent neuroscientist and one of the founding members of the academy. After three days of intense talks and activities, the students and scientists left the campus looking forward to reuniting next year at the Ravenshaw University at Cuttack, Odisha.

Honing communication skills for science trainees is, customarily, not on top of anyone’s ‘to-do’ list. Or perhaps it is assumed, mistakenly, that you automatically get better at it with time. The situation isn’t a whole lot different whether you’re doing your training in India or US.

Communication skill, like any other, has to be consciously inculcated. You have to take the time to get better; and this time is interpreted as “time away from the bench”, and therefore not actively encouraged (if not denied outright). And it is not easy to communicate well. Despite its immense importance to scientists, opportunities to add these skills to your professional toolkit are not that many - the Young Scientist Series (YSS) is one of these precious few opportunities. Produced by iBiology, the YSS is a video series that features young scientists giving talks about their research and discoveries. iBiology has partnered with the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. Submissions for 2017 competition are still open (till December 15 2016).

To apply to the first round, interested candidates (PhD students or postdocs) need to submit a short ‘statement of interest’, written description of a discovery catered to a general (non-scientific) audience, their CV and a letter of recommendation. Shortlisted candidates from this round do an “audition” via Skype. More details can be found here. Winners, chosen from both these rounds based on both their science and clarity of their presentations, get an all-expense paid trip to San Francisco, California; where they will participate in communication workshops organised by Alan Alda Center.

Mohit Jolly, recently minted PhD from Rice University in Texas, and graduate from IIT Kanpur prior to that, was one of the winners of last year’s competition. He describes this training, “the Improvisation Program Director at the Alan Alda Center, Valeri Lantz-Gefroh, who coached us during training, asked -- What is the one message you would like me to take home from your talk? I responded immediately: how math modeling and experimental biology can come together to offer novel insights into biological systems. In that epiphanic moment, I had discovered how to pitch my talk.”

“We did many improvisation exercises which taught me key lessons. For instance, you should always evaluate: what your audience already knows, what do you want them to get from you, and how do you take them from the former to latter without jumping steps in between. So if you were to explain what a cellphone is to someone who has time-travelled from 1000 years ago, where would you begin? These lessons sensitized me not only towards different sets of audience, but also their differing needs. A clinician and a molecular oncologist, for example, can have very different expectations from a talk on cancer biology. How should a speaker balance them? These are important things to think about when planning your talk.”

The organisers of YSS are especially keen on more entries from India. This is a great opportunity to showcase to the world, the research being done in India.

Next article in our ‘science communication’ series: recently concluded ‘Euraxess Science Slam 2016’.

To cultivate curiosity in children, to transform attitudes toward learning; and to accomplish both these objectives by making hands-on science accessible -- these are the guiding principles behind the many programs by Agastya International Foundation. The Foundation is currently in the process of setting up a Bio-Discovery Center: a first-of-its-kind interactive learning space focused on Life Sciences. With this article, we seek to invite input from the scientific community to help in the creation of models, exhibits, and modules for this Center.

The Foundation was established in 1999 with the help of stalwarts from the scientific world, including P.K. Iyengar and K.V. Raghavan. Since its inception, Agastya has impacted over 8 million children and 0.2 million teachers. We run the world’s largest mobile hands-on science education program for economically disadvantaged children and teachers, engaging over a million children each year. The Foundation runs its activities across India, with Creativity Campus near Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh) as our 'resource hub'. Internationally reputable as a unique environment for fostering creativity, the campus offers many diverse programs to visiting children, including Astronomy Center and Planetarium, Arts & Media Lab, and Robotics Lab. This is in addition to subject-specific labs we have for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Through these labs, pedagogy at Agastya aims to supplement the existing curriculum in a hands-on, child-friendly and fun way. To get to this point, the foundation has received guidance, support and counsel from eminent scientists and scholars as S. Balasundaram, R. Krishnan, and V. K. Aatre.

In addition to the Kuppam campus, the Foundation also sponsored creation of 175 “mobile labs”, converted tempo travellers containing over 150 models, activities, and experiments that drive out to villages where the accompanying instructor illustrates the models to all present. Examples include models of human body systems and a several motion-related experiments to explain basic principles of Physics. A slimmer version are the 90 “labs-on-a-bike”, that has small kits packed in a suitcase, carried to remote locations on a bike. Contents of each such suitcase are not picked at random, but are based on a unifying theme.

The Bio-Discovery center being launched this year is the latest in the string of activities by the foundation. Envisioned as an interactive learning space focused on Life Sciences, the Center will conduct activities throughout the year including lectures and discussions with scientists, community visits that focus on health and hygiene, maybe even sleepovers for children to observe nocturnal life on campus. We intend to create a dynamic learning environment where the wonders of Biology unravel for children and adults alike. With this in mind, we are looking for participation from the scientific community, especially those with a background in Life Sciences, in developing curriculum, models and exhibits, as well as in mentoring students.

If you are a scientist with a passion for education, here is your chance to give back. We need volunteers who can give talks at the center, hold discussions, or support us in creation, design and development of teaching methodologies. We are also looking for professionals who can help build the capacity of our instructors and teaching staff. Scientists of any nationality or country of residence are invited to collaborate with us.

For more details, or to discuss your participation, please contact Pranavi Dasari (pranavi@agastya.org).

A helpless leopard tries to get away from a crowd of people tormenting it—running over tiled rooftops, jumping buildings and crossing narrow gullies, before settling behind a bucket in an open bathroom. All the while, the swelling crowd tries beating it with sticks. The scene, unfolding on video, held the undivided attention of participants at the first-of-its-kind awareness workshop on the ‘Role of Youth and Students in Forest Conservation’. This and other clips on man-animal conflict from around Bangalore were presented by Aparna Kolekar, a researcher with Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) at the workshop that was conducted by the Karnataka forest department in collaboration with National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore on 14 May 2016.

All state forest departments are mandated to conduct outreach programs under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) initiative of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. V Ganesh, Range Forest Officer (RFO), North Bangalore District and one of the organisers of the workshop said, “Outreach brings transparency to our system. We have to go to people if we want to solve problems. Issues of wildlife and environment are global but actions have to be local.” He added that forest departments have been conducting such programs for the last few years, but this time they felt the need to join hands with researchers to disseminate knowledge about their respective fields to young students.

Varad Giri, a scientist at NCBS and the other organiser of the workshop also concurred with the view that it is the duty of researchers to communicate about their work. He said, “This workshop was a great opportunity to bridge the gap between young nature enthusiasts and scientists. It will help create a team of volunteers for our future work.” Such initiatives will also help create an understanding in the society about preserving our surroundings.

The workshop was inaugurated by K N Murthy, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangalore. In the sessions that followed, speakers introduced a wide variety of topics related to their expertise—there were talks on the importance of amphibians in a rapidly changing world, on identifying butterflies commonly found in Bangalore, and about eBird, a citizen science web portal, where residents of an area contribute information about local birds. The audience at the workshop was a very diverse collection of 50 participants from different parts of the country. There were high school students and software engineers from Bangalore, and doctoral students and professionals from the not-for-profit sector from as far as Kolhapur and Ranchi. The participants were also spread across a wide age group—from 16 to 50.

The idea behind arranging this gathering, Giri said, was to create awareness among young nature enthusiasts about simple ways to identify animals in their immediate environment. He emphasised the role of taxonomy in scientific research in his talk and listed different ways in which nature enthusiasts can contribute to understanding more about animals, taking up photography being one of them.

In their presentations on reptiles and butterflies respectively, Chaitanya Krishna, an independent researcher and Nitin Rai from NCBS, got the audience excited about many new species from different groups of organisms being discovered near Bangalore. They presented the various physical characteristics with which to distinguish different species of these vertebrates. Rai explained through his research how he would like to build a butterfly community around Bangalore that contributes to research and helps understand the effects of urbanisation on these creatures.

Kolekar spoke on the work undertaken by her colleagues who have radio collared five individual leopards to gather information about their movements around Bangalore. Improper disposal of waste by humans is an important cause in attracting dogs, pigs and other animals, which in turn attracts predators like leopards bringing them in close proximity to humans. This, along with other factors like depletion of forests, fragmentation of habitats by roads, expansion of urban areas, etc, are causes for animals to be in conflict with humans. She concluded by calling on volunteers to enlist with the forest department to spread the message and help in distress situations ensuring human and animal safety.

One of the most engaging sessions was conducted by Suhel Quader, scientist at NCF. He conducted a bird quiz on interesting facts about birds commonly found in cities. Quader talked about why birds exhibit diverse behaviour and explained how information collected through eBird and other citizen science programs can help in scientific understanding of various aspects related to birds while also helping in devising conservation plans.

At the end of these sessions most of the participants in attendance remarked that the workshop more than exceeded their expectations. Pranav and Shikhara, class X students, said that the workshop piqued their interests in biology—the sessions had simple identification keys to various organisms which made them easy to identify in natural surroundings. Sandesh Patil who runs an NGO involved in rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals in Solapur found the session on man-animal conflict useful as it contained information on ways to minimise such incidents. It also suggested means to create awareness among general public that Patil’s organisation could adopt.

The workshop ended with participants having their questions answered by resource experts. To take this initiative forward, Quader suggested that “participants who attended such programmes can be ‘certified’ in some way and aided in conducting their own programmes across the state or country—in this way an even greater reach can be achieved.”

At the intersection of science and policymaking lies an uncertain ground for scientists. While being adept at formulating hypotheses and producing well-researched evidence, most scientists have a poor understanding of how policymaking works. The ambiguity is further amplified by the lack of good communication channels between scientists and policy makers. As the world surges ahead on scientific knowledge, expertise, and achievements, it is imperative that scientists, with their understanding of science and its impact on society, share a bigger role in influencing public decision-making and policy processes.

Aiming to familiarise science professionals with the process of policymaking, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, in association with the British Council, organised a three-day introductory workshop on science policy for women scientists from 31 March - 2 April 2016. Jason J Blackstock and Carla-Leanne Washbourne from the Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy (STEaPP) at University College, London, conducted the workshop along with Chris Tyler, Director of the Parliamentary Office of Science & Technology (POST), UK. The attendees were a diverse group: they included doctoral students and post-doctoral associates from a variety of disciplines, scientists associated with policymaking, entrepreneur enthusiasts, and teaching associates.

The workshop started with an overview of the decision-making process and the roles scientists can play within that framework. All three instructors of the workshop had pursued advanced science degrees before transitioning to science policy and it was very informative to hear about their journeys. The first gap between the scientific method and policymaking was demonstrated when the participants were asked to frame India’s ‘grand challenges’. The responses ranged from healthcare, inequality, and education to sustainable development, environment, and agriculture. The subsequent exercise of narrowing the list down to three was a struggle, showing how difficult it is to reach a consensus on most issues. “Policy decisions are widely debated”, said Blackstock, “and as scientists gather evidence, we often forget that scientific consensus is not enough to make policymakers agree on a decision; there are other factors involved.” He added that science, however, was the driving force of Europe’s development and evidence-based policies are the only sustainable way forward, thus the need for scientific input in policymaking.

Elaborating on the need for a good scientific advisory system, Tyler spoke on the science policy structure in the UK. The current reforms in the system were largely brought about by the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis—the late eighties saw the outbreak of a new disease on cattle, BSE or mad cow disease. In the face of scientific uncertainty on whether the disease could spread to humans, the government claimed that no risks were involved. This stand was maintained until 1996 when the government had to admit that a new fatal human disease, called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), was caused by exposure to BSE, and British beef was banned worldwide. “At the time of the crisis, the lines of communication between policymakers in the government and scientists were weak. Since the BSE crisis, there has been a complete overhauling of the system, and today, UK has one of the best and most proactive science advisory committees in the world,” remarked Tyler.

Washbourne stressed that when advising policymakers, unless scientists give representation to all narratives irrespective of personal preference, they stand to lose objectivity and legitimacy. Along with unbiased presentation of data, brevity should be emphasised—a busy minister usually has only a few minutes to spare amidst other commitments. Only information relevant to the policymakers should be presented concisely. Often, policymakers get frustrated with scientists for not able to give a quick, simple answer, whereas scientists find this to be unreasonable.

This dilemma became more evident when the participants had to design, analyse, and present mock policies for a real-life case scenario. First, the participants were familiarised with the basics of policy design. Scientific advisors cannot limit themselves to evaluating scientific evidence alone while delineating a policy; the social, economic, cultural and political aspects of the issue have to be factored in to formulate a policy which is feasible and can be implemented.

The first evening was then spent in frenzied activity, with participants trying their hand at crafting the best possible policy to solve the given problem, taking into account the various socio-economic factors and the effects on stakeholders. Day 2 started with student scenario presentations wherein each group addressed a specific member of the government or civil society, condensing all the previous day's research into a measly five minutes. It was an uphill challenge for most that effectively delineated the nuances and challenges involved when working in scientific policymaking. The presentations and the following discussions further demonstrated why effective communication of scientific evidence to policy and decision making audiences is of paramount importance.

Contemporary knowledge systems

After the exercise on policy design, the instructors introduced the participants to the concept of ‘contemporary knowledge systems’. The interface between science and public decision-making was broken down into ‘Science for Policy’ and ‘Policy for Science’ systems. The system in the UK was described in detail: scientific advisors and the parliamentary office of science and technology directly give scientific input to public policymakers (Science for Policy) and the research councils and higher education funding bodies allocate budgetary funds for research endeavours (Policy for Science). Lively debates followed on the distribution of funds for basic and applied or innovation research, once again reiterating how difficult it is to reach a consensus amidst a diversity of opinions.

The participants then looked up on India’s knowledge system landscape, particularly pertaining to the subject area of their research. This exercise helped everyone learn about the ‘Policy for Science’ structure in India—many were previously unaware of the full ministerial hierarchy—and clarified how the research output in each domain contributes to the development of public policy.

The workshop also had two special sessions focusing on the Indian science policy scenario. LS Shashidhara, Professor & Chair (Biology) and Dean (Research & Development), IISER Pune, spoke about the development of science policy in India. “Alongside researchers and academicians, there will be growing demand for scientists who must be engaged in other roles that will benefit the science community overall,” he said on his motivation for organising the workshop. He pointed out that scientific advice for policymaking in India is still done in a somewhat ad-hoc manner and needs to develop into a proactive system. Amita Sharma, former secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), shared her experiences of working in policymaking; it was especially insightful to hear about the process from someone who has a wealth of knowledge about developing national policy. Some of the policies she spearheaded are still active and to hear the arduous history of each was illuminating. Her talk connected with everyone and gave the participants a glimpse into the mechanism of policymaking in the country.

Shashidhara had envisioned this workshop to be a primer of sorts to initiate scientists into the field of policy making. The instructors reaffirmed the need for more scientists to get involved in policymaking and improve the process with their scientific input, motivating the participants to consider careers at the crossroads of cutting-edge science and high-value public policy. At the end of three days, the motley group left the gates of IISER Pune as fledging policymakers—they had learnt a lot about a little known area and were keen to explore further.

Ed Emery from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, has been organizing conferences on domesticated animals for the past eleven years. Emery finds that these conferences help bring together researchers from different backgrounds and have a positive impact on the study of domesticated animals. This year the conference he organised was hosted by the Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, from 4 – 6 April 2016. The focus, for the first time, was on elephants, and explored various facets of their relationship with humans.

Speaking about the idea of the conference, Emery said, “My motivation is at two levels, on one hand we are creating cross disciplinary gatherings of people who, although work in the same general terrain, may not necessarily meet and share ideas together. The other is, we are keen to hear the voices of the people who own and drive these animals. This is particularly applicable to the field of transportation.” The conference brought together people from diverse academic backgrounds—ecology, anthropology and history among others.

Over the three days, sessions were categorized into history, cultural aspects of elephants, welfare and livestock management, wildlife trade of elephants, development and sustainability issues, human-animal interrelations and elephants in modernity. The sessions allowed plenty of scope for informal interaction during breaks. One of the speakers, Tarsh Thekaekara, Shola Trust, said, “By definition, the conference is a perfect space for interdisciplinary exchange between natural and social sciences and an ideal platform to talk about taking the middle path between the two.” He also noted that an event solely focusing on elephants was rare, as at best, elephants are represented as part of wider natural science conference.

The conference got off to an interesting start with Raman Sukumar, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, talking about the depiction of elephants in ancient texts and oral traditions. He spoke about the rich information available in the Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata, Arthashastra, Gajashastra, Sangam, ancient Greek texts, and the Akbarnama among others. These provide accurate information on the status and distribution of elephants, their behavior, ecology, diet, conflicts with people, as well as accurate observations of musth in male elephants, etc., providing a precedence to modern day biology. He added that inferences about the changes in elephant habitats can also be drawn from ancient texts. This talk was followed by a presentation on illegal elephant trade in Sonepur, Bihar by Shubhobroto Ghosh, TRAFFIC India. Ghosh presented findings about the dubious nature of trade in Sonepur and the damaging conditions in which the elephants are kept. He argued in favour of the measures being taken to curb this practice, and the need to expose the weaknesses in the ambiguity of wildlife laws so that elephant populations in the wild are unharmed.

On the second day, Prajna Chowta, Aane Mane Foundation, delivered an engaging talk about historical evidence of elephants in captivity, which can be traced back to 4000 years. She underscored that elephants can be tamed but not domesticated, noting that civilization took a meaningful step forward by taming elephants instead of killing them. This is depicted on seals from the Indus Valley civilization. She pointed out that the emergence of circuses and zoos caused the relocation of elephants outside their home ranges. She also presented two case studies, one on the current state of elephants used for tourism in Rajasthan and another on elephants maintained in the Bannerghatta Biological Park. Maria Thaker, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, talked about the need for ecological studies that seek to understand the interactions and impacts by elephants on savanna vegetation to arrive at a conception of a “sense of place”. She presented her empirical work, which shows that movement of elephants alters savanna vegetation and stressed the need to actively manage the relationship between elephants and large trees. According to Maria, the premise of “sense of place” can be determined in many ways and often is drawn from memory and personal perception to define the aesthetics and function of a place. Another interesting presentation was given by Jonathan Saha, University of Leeds, in which he spoke about the history of elephants in colonial Burma and the increase in their deployment in the timber industry. He related the story of an investigation into a huge act of fraud carried out in 1906 by an individual proclaiming the death of several hundred elephants owing to an outbreak of anthrax. Closer scrutiny revealed that the epidemic was conjured to cover embezzlement of government funds. He also disclosed facts pointing to the use of elephants as commodities by the colonial government in Burma.

The last day of the conference commenced with a video presentation by Thomas Trautmann, University of Michigan, on shooting of elephants. He noted that since ancient times societies have either protected or killed elephants, and that they are different from other domestic animals as they are captured wild and then tamed. Kings captured wild elephants to train them for their military use rather than kill them. Such practices were adopted by Mughal conquerors and even by the British East India Company. This changed in the nineteenth century when elephants were killed for trophy and sport hunting. Trautmann’s presentation was followed by a talk on elephants, zamindars and colonial state by Arupjyoti Saikia, IIT Guwahati. Saikia spoke about a historical legal case between the zamindars of Karaibari and ruling government on the claims of ownership rights of elephants. He began by outlining the history of elephants in a complex landscape, proceeding to present documents on hunting and capturing of elephants in this region during the Mughal rule. Then he detailed the complex case where the zamindars laid claim to their traditional rights to hunt and capture elephants, which were eventually dismissed by the British.

Tarsh Thekaekara’s presentation about his work on the elephants of Gudalur region of South India was one of the highlights of the conference. Thekaekara tries to understand how humans and elephants share space at a fine scale and relatively high densities. He spoke about his work over the last year working with local communities and forest field staff to identify individual elephants in his study area rather than the species as a whole. According to him, there is a need to look at the species not only through a scientific lens but with an understanding that elephants are sentient beings capable of making cognitive decisions. The conference came to a close with a video presentation by Kim Stallwood, an independent scholar, describing the gruesome electrocution of Topsy, a 28-year old female elephant, in front of 1500 spectators in New York on 4 January 1903.

Reflecting on the conference, Andrew Reid, University College London, said that it brought together people from different backgrounds and helped to clear any collective amnesia that academics may not recognize in their work. Thekaekara thought the conference was hugely successful as it brought together people from various philosophies of science who made an effort to communicate in a language which is accessible. Sukumar pointed out that the conference had a feast of information on various aspects of elephants and understanding human-elephant relationships will help us plan better for conservation and management of the species.

The Proceedings of the Elephant Conference will be published [online and in print]. The next SOAS Elephant Conference will be held in Africa in 2018.

“If I can get institutes to realise that something special needs to be done to encourage both young women students and faculty to prosper, then I would have achieved something,” said Rohini Godbole, Professor at the Center for High Energy Physics, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), emphatically setting the tone for the first Women in Science, Engineering and Research (WiSER) conference. Held on 2 April 2016 at IISc, Bangalore, the conference brought together women, and men, from industry and academia to confront gender issues. While many of the panelists and participants were faculty, students and alumni of IISc, there were participants from other institutes and companies too.

Godbole believes that the first step in addressing gender issues and bringing about change would be to initiate informed discussion and dialogue, leading to concrete solutions. “One dimension is policy changes but the second dimension is an awakening of the community,” she said. This, she hopes, will eventually create more opportunities in future for young women to continue working in science. It was a sentiment echoed by many other panelists at the intensive day long event packed with various interesting sessions.

The conference opened with an address by Godbole. This was followed by introductory remarks by Anurag Kumar, Director, IISc, and a keynote address by Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon Limited. In his address, Anurag Kumar brought up the “leaky pipeline”— while there has been an increase in the number of girls in schools and colleges (currently stands at 30%), the percentage of women in research is as low as 10% at the postgraduate levels. This trend is not restricted to India but is a global phenomenon. He cited reasons from various studies, which indicate that some girls feel threatened by their colleagues and tend to back off, while others feel they are incapable of handling research along with cultural and social pressures from the society. Other studies indicate that women also feel isolated when in faculty positions. Godbole believes that as long as we increase the numbers in the early education levels, they will eventually percolate upwards. She strongly stated that the disparity of high representation of women in science education but low numbers in science research needs to be addressed.

The talks were followed by a general panel discussion moderated by Maya Sharma, Bangalore Bureau Chief, NDTV, which set the agenda for the conference, highlighting important issues faced by women scientists. A second panel discussion on Women in Science and Engineering zeroed in on some specific issues and was peppered with personal anecdotes related by the panelists. More inspiring stories were heard during the Mantras for Success session.

During the engaging general panel discussion. Maya Sharma posed several pressing and pertinent questions to the scientists in the panel: “Are women scientists taken seriously?”, “How do you go about changing societal perceptions?”, and “What is the way forward?” Sandhya Visweswariah, Professor, Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics pointed to the fact that criteria for recognition are tilted in favor of men. Mazumdar-Shaw shared experiences of the time when she was building her company: “In the initial years of building my company I certainly felt being a woman was working against me. Banks didn’t want to lend and there was a difference in how investors perceived me.” These experiences made her determined to create more opportunities for women in leadership roles.

Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath from the Centre for Neuroscience suggested proactive representation of women in faculty positions to improve the imbalance. Many speakers concurred that being gender neutral was the way forward. However, several panelists were unanimous in their opinion against reservation of women in education and faculty positions. Rudra Pratap, Chairperson and Professor, Centre for Nanoscience and Engineering, and a participant at the conference, later suggested that women should perhaps be recruited on individual, and not comparative, merit. He believes that institutes have been using incorrect and generic yardsticks when recruiting women and ignoring the unique skills and abilities that they bring to the table.

P K Das from the Division of Chemical Sciences, and the sole male representative in this panel discussion suggested that an adequate support system and conducive environment are needed for women to do good work. Geetha Kanna, Managing Director, Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology, said that we need to stop preaching to the choir—the ownership of the problem has to be taken by all stakeholders. There should be parity and not a case of one section empowering the other.

The panel on Women in Science and Engineering discussed the moral dilemma that women often face in choosing family over work among other things. The “two body problem”—the difficulty of both spouses finding work in the same location—was broached, among others. It was suggested that facilities like working from remote locations when one of the spouses have to relocate for work would help companies retain talent. Speaking for young scientists and professionals, Kavita Isvaran, Assistant Professor at IISc, said that adequate support systems should be in place and flexible paternity/maternity leave should be made available. Another panelist, Narayan Sundaram from IIT Kanpur, admitted that men were aware of the problems faced by women in various spheres of life, but often lacked the vocabulary to express their support.

The discussion turned to focus on changing attitudes in the society and the central role that family mindsets play in shaping children’s careers. A PhD student from Nigeria who attended the conference said that in her country it is taboo for a girl to be studying science, but her parents’ support has encouraged her to pursue her career of choice. Usha VijayRaghavan from the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology enthused that the path is far easier for the current generation than it was a few decades ago.

In the Mantras for Success session that followed, Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, a young faculty from IISc, opined that women shouldn’t let others set limits of achievements for them. They should be able to make the best use of their opportunities, but at the same time, not be afraid to seek help.

The final session of the day was constituted by various round table discussions on topics such as gender parity, gender harassment, women leadership, women’s health, and security. Participants were asked to come up with some practical solutions to address problems and these were later discussed with the audience. Interesting observations and solutions, which could act as guidelines when framing policies and disseminating information to the community, were proposed and discussed.

This conference was intended to be a stepping stone in the long road to changing the status of women in science. One participant, Lipika Sahoo, CEO, Lifeintelect Consultancy Pvt. Ltd, said that empowering women is essential not only to build stronger societies but also robust economies. In her feedback about the event, she said, “WiSER is a great initiative. Such forums help to connect women with a network of motivated individuals and a support system.” Another participant said that she was motivated by interacting with achievers in different fields of science, and she learnt through the event that she could balance her interest for science with family considerations. Rudra Pratap said he had come to educate himself on the issues faced by women and advised young women scientists to not try and fit in premeditated moulds but blaze an individual path. In conclusion, Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath echoed a common sentiment when she said that she hoped to see a day when there are no “women scientists” but just scientists.

“An adventure we are trying to embark on” was how K VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of BioTechnology described the first marine biology institute proposed to be set up in India. At an address unveiling the plan for the National Institute of Marine Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB), he stated that this was the realisation of an idea first conceived 15 years ago.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in collaboration with the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) have partnered with the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), France and the Sorbonne University, France, to set up this marine institute. Srini Kaveri, Director of the CNRS Office in India, said, “This is an extremely ambitious project both for India and France. It is also an appropriate platform for the two expertises to come together and establish collaborative efforts.” France, like India, he said, has a long coastline, and has for many decades had marine biological stations with cutting-edge technology and expertise. Insights from their research programs and stations will be valuable while setting up NIMBB and its programs.

To kickstart the collaboration and announce the initiative, a workshop was held at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, between 7-9 March 2016. Scientists from India and France across various disciplines of biology and environmental sciences spoke about their research, with applications to marine systems. Talks varied across cell and developmental biology, neurobiology and physiology, as well as the possibilities of exploration of research in marine biology.

Sudha Rajamani from IISER, Pune spoke about the chemical origins of life and the presence of ancient bacteria in deep-sea habitats. Mukund Thattai from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore who also works on early evolution, pointed out that hydrothermal vents were ideal sites to find ancient organisms, which might enable a better understanding of molecular archeology.

Several talks, from both the French and Indian teams, were focused on marine biology. The highlight of the meeting was a series of talks on the ambitious and hugely successful Tara Expeditions, a French initiative that organises voyages of a schooner, Tara, to study and understand the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans. Chris Bowler, Director of the programme, outlined the history and successes of 12 years of commitment, drawing attention to the enormous amount of data generated on bacteria, protists, metazoans, viruses and the physico-chemical interactions within the ocean. The expeditions are global, with 30 participating research institutes, 171 research stations and 35,000 collected samples, and the analysis uses a three-pronged approach, using high throughput sequencing, high throughput analysis and physico-chemistry. Their results so far highlight the importance of plankton in marine ecosystems, and describe the social networks of organisms in the ocean. Much more about this biome remains to be understood, said Nadia Ameziane, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, as “the total number of marine species is not known even to an order of magnitude”.

N Ramaiah spoke about the 50-year journey of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, since its inception in 1966. One of its important contributions has been joint global ocean studies in the Arabian Sea as well as the Bay of Bengal, mapping various oceanic changes across seasons. AC Anil, also from NIO, spoke about his work on barnacles, which are excellent indicator organisms as they inhabit shallow and tidal waters. Discussing the influence of monsoon perturbations on phytoplankton and barnacle recruitment, he explained that their findings indicate that zooplankton and barnacle numbers have decreased in the past 30 years in Mumbai, Goa and Cochin. Elrika D’Souza, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, presented the findings of her study on dugongs (herbivorous marine mammals, Dugong dugon) in the waters off the Andaman Islands. She finds that dugong numbers have declined by as much as 45% in the last decade. The major causes for this alarming fall are hunting, accidental entanglement in fishing nets, and degradation of the seagrass meadows that dugongs feed on. Only about 17 dugongs including three mother-calf pairs are known to be surviving in the Andamans.

While the workshop showcased exciting marine research from both India and France, it also highlighted the enormous potential for marine science in India. Kartik Shanker, Indian Institute of Science and ATREE, one of the organisers of the workshop, opined that NIMBB would provide tremendous opportunity for India to explore its enormous marine potential using all the tools of modern science. “In India, marine biology has fallen far behind modern biology in general, and marine ecology lags behind terrestrial ecology,” he said.

NIMBB is proposed to be a modern state-of-the-art centre of excellence for marine science, exploring various aspects from cell biology, marine ecology and conservation biology to biotechnology applications. The institute will follow a hub and spoke model, with the central campus in Goa, and stations in the Andamans, Lakshadweep Islands, Gulf of Munnar, Kutch and Nellore. NIMBB will act as a centre for education and training programmes, as well as for meetings and workshops, along the lines of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA. Also proposed as part of the institute are an oceanarium for the public, and a technology transfer and incubation unit.

The oceans have inspired human exploration for several thousand years and an institute like NIMBB will allow this exploration to be continued to new breadths and depths with all the amazing tools of of science, stressed VijayRaghavan. “Such exploration will open new knowledge, understanding, and applications, but, most importantly, will allow us to meet our responsibility to create a sustainable marine ecosystem on a planetary scale,” he said. The central tenet of international collaborative research being the way forward was reiterated through the workshop, for, as Chris Bowler said, there is only one ocean.

Launched in November 2015, the IMPRINT Initiative aims to provide solutions to relevant engineering problems and challenges facing India by converting existing knowledge into viable technology. At the launch of the IMPRINT (IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology) program in Delhi, the Prime Minister said “It’s important to look towards affordable technology, science is universal but technology has to be local.”

IMPRINT is a novel initiative supported by the Ministry of Human Resource Department (MHRD). It is a collaboration between various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
Ten socially relevant domains of research come under the purview of IMPRINT: healthcare, information and technology, energy, sustainable habitat , nanotechnology and hardware, advanced materials, manufacturing, security and defence, water resource and river systems, environmental science and climate change.
IIT Kanpur has been designated as the National Coordinator of IMPRINT. Scientists and faculty from the IITs and IISc have been chosen and appointed as coordinators of the various domains. They will be supervised by AK Singh of IIT Kanpur, the National Convenor of the programme.

IndiaBioscience spoke to AK Singh whose role has involved working with the Ministry on a daily basis. He is expected to pass on the information about the programme to various domain coordinators. He said that MHRD has been involved in all stages of the formation of the programme. He has also worked closely with Indranil Manna, Director, IIT Kanpur and National IMPRINT Coordinator, in identifying the coordinators for the different domains, forming a road map and executing the various exercises of the programme.

Each domain has been further divided into sub-themes, targets and topics keeping in mind the programme’s two point mandate—to develop a new engineering education policy for the undergraduate level, and to create a blueprint of engineering solutions that can be converted into applied technology. The underlying philosophy behind the initiative is the premise that for inclusive growth, there must be great synergy between science, engineering, technology and society. Academia must pursue new knowledge, research organisations should come up with new innovations and the industry should be able to absorb this knowledge and innovation in order to develop new technology which will enable it to produce goods and services that would be competitive as well as serve the society and the nation.
To understand the current position and working status of IMPRINT, IndiaBioscience also spoke to a few coordinators of different domains. To begin with, the coordinators and their teams deliberated on the points and guidelines put forth by the MHRD. Arindam Biswas of IIT Roorkee, who works in the domain of sustainable habitat, said there were a lot of brainstorming sessions to come up with “immediate interventions” in some sub-themes as it would not be possible for all the themes to be addressed at the same time. In addition, successful human resource education policies from advanced countries were being studied to come up with an education policy to cater to Indian needs. Biswas added that there is a need to have multi-disciplinary proposals to come up with new education guidelines. His team also proposes to develop various models to measure the various goals and targets set by different government agencies that will help in more efficient monitoring of the programme.The coordinators have also been making sure that there are sufficient funds to carry out the selected proposals. They can throw open the solutions to industry to take this forward at a later stage. The teams are also expected to come up with educational policy guidelines by middle of the year so they can be incorporated into present curriculae.

The government has reportedly announced a budget of Rs.1000 crores for the initial phase of IMPRINT. Its success largely depends on whether the selected domains can come up with variable technology solutions in collaboration with various ministries, agencies and industries. It is set up to be a single window clearance to screen research proposals from India’s research and technology institutes. In the lead up to the formation of IMPRINT many scientists and researchers noted that bureaucracy was often delaying projects and discouraging Institutes from pursuing them, hence the need for a one-stop shop. While IMPRINT will be steered initially by IITs and IISc, it is hoped that the entire engineering fraternity including national academies, government ministries and departments, research organizations, strategic sectors and industry will ultimately come together and own collective responsibility. Although it is led by MHRD, the Ministry of Defense, Department of Science and Technology, Department of BioTechnology and the Ministry of Rural Development, amongst others, are a part of the initiative.

The first phase of IMPRINT is concerned with creating a blueprint of the engineering educational policy of the country covering pedagogy, teaching, curriculum, technology-benchmarking and infrastructure readiness. The actual engineering technology pursuit will commence in the second phase. For example, in the healthcare sector, India imports practically all the diagnostic machinery simply because it is not manufactured here. But there is new research being carried out which, once scaled up, can change this.

Rangan Banerjee of IIT Bombay who oversees the energy domain said, that, as the domain coordinator, he has had an opportunity to link people across various institutes. His team will also be screening various proposals to see which fit with the themes for their domain. Banerjee also mentioned how various Ministries associated with the domain like the Ministry of Power, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy will be involved in the future course of action.
IMPRINT is an ambitious initiative which aims to link the top engineering and scientific institutions and work closely with the concerned Ministries to come up with a solid roadmap to guide India to a path of successful growth by addressing its technology needs. In AK Singh’s words, “the ball now is in the court of the identified teams and academics to come up with proposals that can translate into applied research and not fundamental research. The implementation of the findings will be government’s responsibility but the onus is on the scientists to use their vast knowledge database to come up with innovation in products and processes in the identified fields.”

This article first appeared in the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance newsletter.

Antibiotics have dramatically reduced the number of deaths from infections and infectious diseases since they were introduced 70 years ago. They have been the most vital and commonly-used medication to combat life-threatening infections caused by disease-causing bacteria, but using antibiotics can have side effects. Antibiotic overuse increases the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance, which is more broadly classified as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), can be defined as resistance of the infectious bugs against the medications used to eliminate them. AMR has fast become an obstacle in the prevention and treatment of variety of infections caused by bugs such as bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi, which cause HIV, influenza, malaria, tuberculosis and host of other infections. In most countries 80% of antibiotics are used outside hospitals and healthcare facilities, either with a prescription from a healthcare provider or are obtained directly from pharmacies without one. 20-50% of this use outside the hospital is inappropriate. According to the State of the World's Antibiotics, 2015 report by Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), on average, an Indian citizen consumed about 7.4 antibiotic pills (per year) in 2000, which increased to about 11.7 antibiotic pills in 2010. The report also revealed that between 2000 and 2010, antibiotic consumption increased by 36%. Of the five countries, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) that accounted for 76% of this increase in antibiotic consumption, India had the highest antibiotic consumption. This reckless use has given rise to the global health epidemic of antibiotic resistant infections which needs urgent attention.

The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance organised a public event on 1 March 2016 to discuss the issue of antibiotic resistance and its consequences, in partnership with Manthan, a premier organisation that organises public discourses in Hyderabad, Public Health Foundation of India, 17th International Congress on Infectious Diseases, Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy and Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics. This event took place on the eve of 17th International Congress on Infectious Diseases in Hyderabad. This event is part of the Voices for Health, an effort aimed at engaging people and communities to better understand public health and to educate them about key determinants of emergent heath issues.

Speaking at the event Ramanan Laxminarayan, Distinguished Professor Public Health Foundation of India and Chair, National Organising Committee, 17th International Congress for Infectious Diseases, likened antibiotic resistant infections to climate change, a global problem which cannot be tackled in isolation. He said it is more urgent today to have conversations about these infections when the world has become more interconnected than ever before. Dr Sanjeev Singh, Senior Medical Superintendent, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, one of the panellists at the discussion, talked about hospital infections and gave a startling response when asked the survival chance of a new-born with sepsis if they have antibiotic-

resistant infection—none. Apart from the vulnerability of new-borns and elderly people for antibiotic-resistant infections, this condition could badly affect the surgical operations, transplants that require antibiotics post-operation, he forewarned. Alison Holmes, Professor, Imperial College London, said 1 in 10 people that visit a hospital in the UK contract infection there. She stressed the need to include those who prescribe antibiotics in the hospitals in the dialogue about tackling antibiotic-resistant infections.

“We need to give antibiotics when people need them but we also need to protect them from antibiotic abuse”- Prof Alison Holmes

A recent survey done by Dr Sanjeev Singh and colleagues showed that almost 90% of doctors they surveyed, prescribed antibiotics on a daily basis, underscoring the importance of engaging with not just the patients but also doctors and caregivers on the importance of conserving antibiotics. Responding to the question about the challenges of developing new antibiotics, Radha Rangarajan, CEO of Vitas Pharma, a women-led discovery company in Hyderabad which is working on identifying and developing therapies for multidrug resistant hospital acquired infections, said that no new antibiotics have been developed since the 1990s because the big pharma started to look at more commercially attractive diseases such as cancer, inflammation and other lifestyle diseases. Because of this reason, today there are only 41 antibiotics in various stages of development, a small number compared to the drug pipelines for other diseases. Antibiotics are produced from bacteria that are resistant to it- they have the property of mutating and evolving to resist the effect of the antibiotic. She felt that the new antibiotics or antibacterials that need to be developed have to be novel and different from the existing drugs, something that the bacteria have not been exposed to.

The audience shared personal stories on antibiotic prescription and use and asked questions that ranged from, what is antibiotic resistance, how can one ask the doctor the right questions about antibiotics without offending them, do we have to make new antibiotics, what alternatives are available to treat infections other than antibiotics, are there quick tests that can distinguish between a viral and bacterial infection, to whose responsibility is it to mend rampant prescription practices and to control over-the-counter availability, how long should a parent wait before giving their child antibiotic for an infection and many others. The discussion broadly weighed in on the role of antibiotics in fighting infections, discussed the status of antibiotic-resistant infections in India and emphasised on the importance of and steps to conserve them for future use.

Click here to read and circulate informational material on antibiotic resistance

Generous, flexible, fair, efficient, prestigious: this is how past Fellows commonly describe their experience with the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and its programmes. EMBO promotes quality life science research and seeks to nurture international interactions and mobility among scientists. They support talented researchers in all areas of life science through their grants and funding programmes—programmes that Indian scientists will be now be able to participate in.

Cementing a long-standing, albeit unofficial, scientific partnership, India has recently been inducted as a member state of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC) and the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) through an agreement with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). This makes India one of the first member states outside Europe and its neighbours. The official announcement and launch of this partnership will be accompanied by a blitzkrieg of events in the first week of February 2016 in institutes across the country in which scientists from Europe and India as well as EMBO representatives will talk about science, the opportunities afforded by the partnership and the implications of the agreement for Indian science.

Some of the programmes that Indian researchers will now have access to—with evaluation and benefits on par with researchers from other member states—are: EMBO Long-Term/ Short-Term fellowships that support postdoctoral and predoctoral research experience, EMBO Courses and Workshops that can be organised with funding and administrative assistance, EMBO Young Investigators Programme—a 3-year programme that offers financial, academic and practical support to young PIs, EMBO Science Policy Programme that focusses on the governance of new technologies for scientific progress and their implications, EMBO Global Meetings, The EMBO Meeting and EMBO Publications.

IndiaBioscience spoke to young scientists from across India, all of whom have previously been award EMBO Long-Term Fellowships during their postdoctoral stints in various European labs. We asked them about their experiences as EMBO Fellows, what they find exciting about the DBT-EMBO partnership and how they think it will benefit Indian science.

“For me, what would be most interesting is the breadth of biology EMBO covers. I work in plant biology. Many grants don’t cover my area of research, so my applications will be unsuccessful. The DBT-EMBO partnership will open up avenues for those who are not working in fields like biomedical science that most major grants favour,” said Sourav Datta, a young scientist from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal.

“EMBO workshops would be one thing I would look forward to,” said Niti Kumar, Scientist at the CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CSIR-CDRI), Lucknow, referring in particular to the Laboratory Management Courses that are open exclusively to EMBO Fellows and Young Investigators. The partnership would also unlock networking opportunities through EMBO Meetings, added Kumar. While she lauded the Government’s efforts to bring in international grants and collaborations, Kumar urged that these schemes need to be more widely advertised across institutes and universities in second-tier cities, where awareness of opportunities is often lacking.

The interviewees also commended EMBO for being open and receptive to suggestions from its Fellows. Based on discussions at EMBO Meetings, recommendations for an extension period to the 2-year EMBO Long-Term Fellowships have been embraced, said Nixon Abraham, Assistant Professor at IISER, Pune. In a similar vein, Abraham and other ex-Fellows hope that requests for a return phase to previously held Fellowships will also be heard, especially now that they will be able to apply from India.

Yusuf Akhter, another former EMBO Fellow, now an Assistant Professor at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh was optimistic that the partnership will serve to attract more scientists to come [back] and set up labs in India. “The grant money is good. It may even encourage people from other EMBO countries to move to India,” he said. Others believe it would also help new faculty who have come back from [postdoctoral] experiences in Europe to maintain their ties with European labs in some ways. The partnership is also seen as an impetus for Indian graduate students seeking postdoctoral opportunities in Europe. In Datta’s words, “Labs are happy to take good students, but funds are usually the bottleneck.”

The agreement seeks to propel life science research in India forward, by opening up avenues for young scientists in India to forge international collaborations and explore new ideas together. The implications and opportunities afforded by the partnership will be dwelt upon during the weeklong launch that happens in 7 cities across the country from 1-8 February, 2016.

Venue and speaker details for each event can be found here. If you are unable to attend in person, tune in to our live broadcast!

On Wednesday, 20 January 2016, the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore played host to the launch of a new collaborative initiative that will bring stem cell research in India and Japan to bear on clinical studies of brain and blood disorders. The venture, titled “Accelerating the application of Stem cell technology in Human Disease” (ASHD), is the first of its kind within India and perhaps one of the few at this scale worldwide.

Already in its preliminary stages, the collaboration includes four institutes across South India: NCBS, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) and the National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, and Christian Medical College (CMC) as well as Centre for Stem Cell Research (CSCR), a unit of InStem at CMC in Vellore. The Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University, Japan is a partner in the collaboration, and will help provide training and expertise in stem cell technology.

The event at NCBS on 20th January began with talks by representatives from all participating organizations, explaining how their different streams of expertise will thread together in the coming years. NIMHANS, NCBS and InStem are spearheading the section of the project dealing with brain disorders. By developing stem cell lines from family cohorts whose clinical data NIMHANS has maintained for decades, researchers at NCBS and InStem hope to explore the biological pathways underlying conditions such as manic depressive disorder, schizophrenia, addiction and attention deficit disorder. Likewise, stem cell technology will allow researchers at NCBS and InStem to examine and develop therapies for common blood disorders in India treated at CMC Vellore, such as sickle cell anaemia, haemophilia and thalassemia. The latter project will also work towards developing protocols for haplobanking—banks of stem cell lines from healthy donors that can then be matched for blood transfusions or organ transplants.

Planned over the course of several years, this long-term, multidisciplinary project is supported by a combination of government and private funding. ASHD has been granted funds from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and from Pratiksha, the family trust of Kris and Sudha Gopalakrishnan. Kris Gopalakrishnan is co-founder and former Vice Chairman of Infosys.

Secretary of the DBT, K VijayRaghavan, spoke to the gathering via Skype. He spoke of how advances in stem cell biology are allowing us to move beyond model organisms in medical research. “The opening up of the possibility of studying human cells is an extraordinary opportunity to understand human health and disease,” he said.

That opening up of possibilities rides on a breakthrough which is still relatively new. Not yet a decade ago, Japanese stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka and colleagues demonstrated how to convert any adult cell into an embryonic stem cell, first in mice and then in humans, work for which Yamanaka won the 2012 Nobel Prize. Given the capacity of stem cells to develop into any cell type and thus any tissue in the body, stem cells have always had high potential as research tools and therapeutic agents. Prior to Yamanaka's discovery, however, stem cell research in humans faced the ethical constraint that embryonic stem cells could only be recovered from embryos.

“[Yamanaka] showed that if you take four factors and put them into any adult cell, it becomes like an embryonic stem cell,” explained Mahendra Rao, collaborative science chair at InStem. “To distinguish it from the normal stem cell that you take out from a fertilized egg, he called it an induced pluripotent stem cell, or iPSC.”

Although ASHD has been in the works as a national collaboration for more than five years, the seed of its international side was planted in October 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited CiRA, Yamanaka's research institute in Japan. “The Prime Minister was very impressed with [CiRA],” said Rao. “He wanted to make sure that we took advantage of whatever they had learned.”

Thanks to Yamanaka's discovery, iPSC lines can now be generated from any individual on earth, which can, in the case of disease, allow us to study the biological basis of that disease under controlled lab conditions. “The assumption being that when you create stem cells from individuals, some of the disease drivers are recapitulated in that system,” cautioned Satyajit Mayor, director of NCBS and InStem. If the disease is entirely a product of environmental insult, it will not show up in the recreated tissue. And even if the disease does turn up, answers may still not be forthcoming. Rao described a puzzling case of Parkinson's Disease that he once encountered, where careful comparison of newly-grown, diseased neurons of one individual with the healthy neurons of the individual's identical twin still provided no clue as to what had caused that stark difference.

Although the application of stem cell technology to clinical research could lead to rapid development in our understanding of hereditary disorders, it has its limitations. One audience member on Wednesday brought up a long-standing debate about the medicalisation of mental illness, concerned that an emphasis on technological solutions may blind us to the problem's sociological side. Another issue from the audience was that psychiatric disorders tend to be classified by symptom, given that our understanding of causation is still incomplete—a shortcoming that projects such as ASHD would seek to rectify. Symptomatic categories, influenced by culture and blending a potentially wide range of genetic and environmental underpinnings, may not automatically map onto the causal categories that genetic studies try to uncover.

Sanjeev Jain, professor of psychiatry at NIMHANS pointed out that regardless of debates about sociology, psychiatric definitions are based on practise, and the suffering associated with severe mental illness is real and requires treatment. Moreover, Jain and his colleagues at NIMHANS have observed the clear heritability of mental illnesses such as manic depressive disorder and schizophrenia in their work with individual families over the course of decades. It was this repeated observation that caused Jain to initially approach researchers at NCBS several years ago, looking for a collaboration with geneticists that might lead to a deeper understanding of the biological basis of psychiatric disorders.

Satyajit Mayor emphasised the novel opportunity offered by this collaboration. “Cohort studies of families are very rare,” he said. “To have so many affected families that have been studied for so many years is almost a unique resource worldwide.” NIMHANS sees an estimated half a million patients per year, meaning at least hundreds and perhaps thousands of families whose records go back thirty or more years. “It's unbelievable that this sort of information exists,” said Mayor.

Family studies from India may be even more useful in a study of the biological basis of genetic disorders because of a quirk of the very large population: “We have an incredibly genetically diverse population, and we have tremendous consanguinity in the population,” explained Mayor. In other words, there is a large amount of genetic variety overall in the population, but not much intermixing, and thus low diversity within community groups. Thus, slight biological differences that correlate with differences detectable at the clinical level can be teased apart.

“If there is any information in the genes—the question is if —we will find it in [projects like ASHD],” said Mayor. And he pointed out that the confluence of clinical data with laboratory techniques potentially capable of decoding that data is a time-dependent one. The knowledge of clinicians with decades of experience is not going to be around forever. “Either we engage with that information now or never,” he said.