Online Training session on "Essentials of Good Clinical Practice and Research Ethics"
14/09/2021

Online Training session on "Essentials of Good Clinical Practice and Research Ethics" was organised by the Department of Clinical Research, ICMR-NIRT, Chennai on 14th September, 2021. The participants were Ethics Committee members and faculty from Meenakshi Medical College Hospital and Research Institute, Kanchipuram. A total of 27 participants attended the online training session. The objective of the training session was to sensitize the Ethics Committee Members to enable them to perform their functions in accordance with the principles of ICH GCP (Good Clinical Practices) and Ethical standards. The faculty were Scientists from ICMR-NIRT.

Annual Day Celebrations-2021
07/09/2021

The Annual Day of ICMR-NIRT was celebrated on 7th September, 2021 with great enthusiasm. Dr Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT presided the function and briefed on the recent achievements of ICMR-NIRT. Prof. Balram Bhargava, Secretary-DHR and Director General-ICMR honoured the gathering virtually through his wonderful talk. Dr. Aleyamma Thomas, Director-in-charge(Retd.), ICMR-NIRT felicitated the staff members of the Institute who had completed 25 years of memorable service with a memento and a certificate. Many retired and senior staff members of ICMR-NIRT were also present during the function. Dr. R. Rathinasabapati, Senior Library and Information Officer, ICMR-NIRT delivered the Annual Day Lecture on "Positive thinking". Packed lunch were provided to all staff members of ICMR-NIRT. The function ended with vote of thanks from Dr. N. Saravanan Scientist 'D' & Chairman, Celebration Committee, ICMR-NIRT.

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Virtual Orientation for students and faculties of Madras School of Social Work
19/08/2021

A virtual orientation about ICMR-NIRT for students of PG-MSW-Medical & Psychiatric Social Work and faculty member of Madras School of Social Work was conducted on 19th August 2021 at 3.30 PM. Dr A. Enoch, Coordinator - Field Work (MSSW) organized the orientation meeting on behalf of MSSW and provided the welcome address. Following it, the orientation was conducted by Dr N Karikalan, Scientist & Head, Department of Social and Behavioural Research at ICMR-NIRT. The orientation included information about ICMR-NIRT's history, various departments, research activities and contributions to TB research and control. He also provided information about the TB burden in the country and role of ICMR-NIRT in supporting the National TB Elimination Program. He highlighted the role of social workers in engaging with TB patients and addressing the psycho-social issues they face during TB treatment. The session was followed by Q&A from students and was ended with a thanking note.

State level orientation program on "The Syndemic Challenge of Tuberculosis & Alcohol" for the staff of Integrated Rehabilitative Centre for Addicts (IRCA), Tamil Nadu
03/09/2021

A state level virtual orientation program was conducted for the staff of Integrated Rehabilitative Centre for Addicts (IRCA) on the topic "The Syndemic Challenge of TB and Alcohol" on 03rd September 2021. The orientation was organized by the Department of Social and Behavioral Research, ICMR-NIRT in coordination with TTK Hospital, Chennai and its network of IRCA's in the state. The event was attended by almost 70 staff including project directors, nurses, counsellors and peer educators of IRCA'S functioning in different districts of Tamil Nadu including Chennai, Tambaram, Puducherry, Cuddalore, Thiruvarur, Thotthukudi, Madurai, Ramnathapuram, Coimbatore, Perambalur, Thiruvarur, Dindivanam and Trichy. The session was handled by Dr N. Karikalan, Scientist & Head, Department of Social and Behavioral Research, wherein he explained about the burden of Tuberculosis and alcoholism in India. He elaborated on the concept of "Syndemic" and the importance of having an integrated intervention for addressing the dual problem of alcoholism and TB. At the end of the session, there was a discussion in which the IRCA staff provided valuable inputs about their rehabilitation works with addicts and expressed that the session was informative for them to know about TB. Mrs. Jacqueline David from TTK Hospital gave her detailed feedbacks on their works with alcoholics. Senior staff of DSBR, ICMR-NIRT, Mrs Chandra Suresh and Mr Murugesan thanked the the participants at the end of session.

Flag off of TB Prevalence Survey in Madurai by District Collector in the presence of Madurai Commissioner, Director-ICMR-NIRT, City Health Officer, District TB Officer, WHO Consultant and staff of ICMR-NIRT

TB Health Awareness programme
Venue: Venba Charitable Trust, Washermenpet Tailoring Unit, Chennai
17/08/2021

A "TB & Health Awareness Program" was organized and conducted by ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with Venba Charitable Trust on 17th August 2021 at Washermenpet Tailoring Unit, Chennai. There were 22 women participants, all of whom are tailoring workers who participated in this program. The programme commenced with a welcome note by Ms. Manjula from Venba charitable trust. She explained about the importance of this program to the participants. Ms. Dhanalakshmi, Social Worker from the Dept. of Socio-Behavioural Research, ICMR-NIRT presented a TB talk for the participants. She elucidated about the TB infection, diagnosis and treatment method and explained about the importance of health and hygiene and it relation to infectious diseases. Followed by this, Mr. Senthil Kumar from ICMR-NIRT made a powerpoint presentation and poster presentation about nutrition, to explain about balanced diet. A TB related documentary film prepared by ICMR-NIRT team was also shown to the participants.

TB Health Awareness programme
Venue: ICDS, Vyasarpadi, Chennai
16/08/2021

A "TB & Health Awareness Program" was conducted by ICMR-NIRT at Vyasarpadi ICDS on 16th August 2021.

A total of 23 women who are mothers of Anganwadi children attended this meeting. The programme commenced with welcome note by Ms. Kowsalya working in Vysarpadi ICDS. She elucidated the importance of this program conducted by ICMR-NIRT. Subsequently Mrs.Dhanalakshmi - Social Worker from the Dept. of Socio-Behavioural Research of ICMR-NIRT presented a TB talk for the participants and explained about TB infection, diagnosis and treatment methods. The importance of hygiene was highlighted and significance of prevention of infectious diseases was described. Followed by this, Mr. Senthil Kumar, Project Staff from ICMR-NIRT gave a presentation about malnutrition and explained about the balanced diet for healthy life. A variety of low cost food and its benefits for the participants was explained. Finally, the participants raised their doubts and got clarified by the resource persons.

 

 

Socio-Behavioural Research Network for Tuberculosis (SBRN-TB)
17/08/2021

ICMR-NIRT, Chennai has initiated the “Socio-Behavioural Research Network for Tuberculosis (SBRN-TB)” in collaboration with the other ICMR institutes on 17th August 2021. The meeting was attended by the participants from ICMR-NJIL&OMD, Agra: ICMR-NIOH, Ahmedabad.    ICMR-BMHRC, Bhopal: ICMR-RMRC, Bhubaneshwar: ICMR-NIRTH, Jabalpur,   ICMR-RMRC, N.E. Region: ICMR-RMRI, Patna: ICMR-NARI, Pune, ICMR-RMRC, Port Blair and ICMR-NIRT.   Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT, Chennai welcomed all the participants and provided an overview and role of SBRN-TB in the context of ICMR-NIRT’s efforts towards TB elimination. SBRN-TB was formally inaugurated by Dr. Samiran Panda, Scientist 'G' & Head ICMR-ECD Division and he gave the key note address. The importance of the socio-behavioural research for TB elimination was highlighted by Dr Samiran Panda and underscored the different activities which SBRN-TB could take forward. A presentation was made by Dr Karikalan Scientist ICMR-NIRT on the background, objectives and roles of SBRN-TB. All participants from different institutes provided their views and feedbacks and expressed their interest and willingness to participate in network activities. Dr Stephen, Scientist ICMR –NIRT moderated the meeting and thanked all the participants.

 

75th Independence Day celebrations @ ICMR-NIRT
16/08/2021

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TB and Health Awareness programme for Marginalised community Mapedu, Chennai
30/07/2021
Venue: MCC Family life Institute Mapedu, Chennai

A TB and health awareness  program was organized by ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with MCC-Family Life Institute, Mapedu, Chennai on 30th July 2021. Twenty five participants from marginalised  community were participated in this program.

The programme commenced with welcome note by  Mr.  Yesuraja from Sindhi college and then Dr. Sylvia Daisy Director-In-charge of MCC-Family life Institute.Ms. Dhanalakshmi social worker (ICMR-NIRT) presented a TB talk for the participant, and explained  in detail about the TB infection, diagnosis and treatment method.  She also emphasized  the importance of health and hygiene. Finally a TB related documentary film was  shown to the participants.

Mr. Senthil kumar and Mr. Jacob Premkumar (NIRT-ICMR staff ) made a  power point presentation about malnutrition and low cost nutritious food for TB patients and those who are risk. They used posters to explain the nutrition chart and  suggested a  variety of low cost food and its benefits for the participants.

At the end of the program vote of thanks was given by Ms.Julie residential nurse of MCC-Family life Institute.

 

BCG Centenary Symposium 
19/07/2021

“BCG Centenary Symposium was conducted on 19th July 2021 virtually at ICMR-NIRT.  Dr Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT welcomed the speakers, guests of honour and participants to the Symposium. About 160 participants took part in the event virtually and 25 participants attended in person. Prof (Dr) Balram Bhargava, Secretary-DHR and DG-ICMR in his opening remarks emphasized the mile stones achieved during BCG vaccine trial and proudly recollected the participation of the ICMR-NIRT in the BCG Chengalpattu trial. Followed by him Dr. Manjula Datta, Ex Deputy Director, ICMR-NIRT delivered her “special talk” on “ICMR’s Chengalpattu Trial on BCG for prevention of TB”. She lucidly described the BCG Chengalpattu trial protocol, dedication of the staff at various levels during the trial and concluded with results and discussion on trial outcomes. Five retired field staff who took part in the BCG Chengalpattu Trial were honoured with mementos by Dr Baskaran, Head, Department of Clinical Research, ICMR-NIRT. Following this Dr. Subash Babu, Scientific Director, NIH-NIRT-ICER, delivered a wonderful talk on “BCG hits a century: Impact of tuberculosis, viruses, cancer and beyond”. In his talk he emphasized on the utility of BCG vaccine in various disease conditions including COVID-19. The symposium concluded with vote of thanks from the Director, ICMR-NIRT”.

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Felicitation Programme for Vellore District NTEP Staff for their active contribution in TB Vaccine Study
08/07/2021

Felicitation programme was conducted on 8th July 2021 in DTO Office-Vellore for the staff of NTEP for their active contribution in ICMR TB Vaccine study. Momentos were distributed to all the field staff working in Vellore District under NTEP. The programme was attended by Dr. Jeyashree, District TB Officer, Vellore District and all the staff of NIRT-Vellore Unit. NTEP staff were encouraged to contribute and continue their support towards various activities carried out by ICMR - NIRT in Vellore district.

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International Yoga Day
21/06/2021

A The International Yoga Day was observed at ICMR-NIRT on 21st June 2021. Ms. V.M. Girija Lakshmi demonstrated yoga, as per the Common Yoga Protocol, along with Mr. Gunalan and Ms. Cathrin Divya. The demonstration was followed by addresses from Ms. Devaki (Sr. Admn. Officer) and Dr. Saravanan (Scientist ‘D'). Dr. Rathinasabapati (Sr. Librarian & Info. Officer) highlighted the importance of regular yoga practices. The program focussed on this year's IYD theme: Yoga for Wellness.

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Scientific Manuscript Writing Workshop
16/06/2021-17/06/2021

A scientific manuscript writing workshop was organized by ICMR–National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis on 16-17th June 2021. The scope of the workshop was capacity building for Research Scholars and Scientists to excel in the art of scientific communication. Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR-NIRT w elcomed the gathering and highlighted the importance of this workshop. Dr. Samiran Panda, Scientist-G and Head, Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division, ICMR, New Delhi inaugurated and delivered the key note address.

This workshop focused on four sessions such as (1) IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion), (2) Writing skills, (3) Editors' perspective on publication of scientific manuscripts and (4) Issues related to publications. Dr. Rajeswari Ramachandran and Dr.MS.Jawahar, Former Deputy Directors of ICMR-NIRT coordinated the sessions and topics for presentation. The workshop emphasised approach towards manuscript writing in various fields such as Randomised Controlled Clinical Trials, Epidemiological Studies, Laboratory studies and Socio-behavioural studies. Editors of reputed journal Dr. Albina A Nair, IJMR-Delhi, Dr. VK Arora, IJT-Delhi and Ms. Shivani Pant, BMJ Journals, Mumbai delivered lectures on expectations from editorial for scientific manuscript writing. Sixty participants (28 physical and 32 virtually) successfully completed and benefitted from the workshop.

 

"No Tobacco Pledge"
31/05/2021

On this occasion of World-No Tobacco Day, I take a pledge that I shall never smoke & consume any type of tobacco products in my life and motivate my family or acquaintances to not to smoke/use any tobacco products. I shall motivate my colleagues for the same.

Brainstorming Session on “Interdisciplinary approaches towards the elimination of TB 2025”
29/04/2021

A brainstorming session with the theme “Interdisciplinary approaches towards the elimination of Tuberculosis by 2025” was organised by the Department of Biochemistry. Dignitaries from Vellore Institute of Technology, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology and Madurai Kamaraj University made presentations on facilities available in their respective institutions and their core strength. All the members agreed to share their resources and ideas to make combined research proposals. They also envisaged to make a regional consortium to achieve the national goal of TB elimination by 2025

Virtual symposium on “Leveraging social sciences in the global fight against Tuberculosis: Sharing experiences from across the globe”
19/04/2021

The Department of Health Economics of ICMR-NIRT organized a virtual symposium titled “Leveraging social sciences in the global fight against Tuberculosis: Sharing experiences from across the globe” in collaboration with Sonar Global, a global network of social science researchers working to address infectious diseases threat. Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR-NIRT inaugurated the symposium and highlighted the importance of social science research for TB elimination. She underscored that the collaboration made possible by this symposium must ensure sustainability in the long run. Dr. Tamara Giles-Vernick, Project Coordinator, Sonar Global appreciated this symposium initiative which could bring in exchange of knowledge and expertise between social science researchers from different countries. Speakers from Karnataka Health Promotion Trust (Bengaluru, India), The Union (New Delhi, India), ICMR-NIRT (Chennai, India), Médecins Sans Frontières (India), Academic Medical Center and the University of Amsterdam, Médecins Sans Frontières (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia presented their social science research and interventions for TB in two sessions and fruitful discussions held during the question and answer session. At the end of the session, all speakers and organisers discussed about the way forward and consented that a larger and dynamic forum for social science research for TB is the need of hour. Also qualitative and quantitative studies on social and behavioural determinants for TB, to be taken up, in collaboration with like-minded partners in India and abroad.

Workshop on Sample Size Estimation for Clinical and Laboratory Research
07/04/2021

Resource person :  Professor L. Jeyaseelan, Adjunct Faculty, Epidemiology, CMC Vellore

The Workshop was organized with the objective of understanding the recent development and new concepts in sample size estimation for Clinical and Laboratory Research.  An optimal estimate of sample size is important for proper, scientific, and logistic reasons. Nominated statisticians, clinicians and laboratory staff (totally 30 participants) attended and benefitted from the workshop. The workshop familiarized the participants with the statistical concept behind sample size estimation and had practical exercises for sample size calculation of various study designs and outcome variables concerning clinical and laboratory studies. It also explored the various methods for calculating sample size and covered with discussions on the advantages of each method and assumptions.

Swachhata Pakhwada activities in ICMR- NIRT between April 1st and April 15th 2021.

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Meeting on “Towards a TB Free Chennai: An Innovative Inter-sectoral Partnership”
24/03/2021

TB Free Chennai Dissemination meeting was conducted to share the outcomes of the project to the partner organisations, programme stakeholders and policy makers. The intended objective of the workshop was to broadly discuss the impact of TB-Free Chennai initiatives and its replication and scale-up other part of the state and the country.  The dissemination meeting also helped to understand the limitations and gaps in the implementation of the project and way forward to implement similar initiatives to achieve the TB elimination goals. 

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WORLD TB DAY 2021 at NIRT MADURAI UNIT
24/03/2021

The World TB Day Observation & Dissemination of Research Activities was conducted on March 24, 2021, at NIRT Madurai unit in GRH Auditorium Madurai.

Prof Dr.V. Nagarajan, Chairman, Ethics Committee of Madurai Medical College/Govt Rajaji H,ospital Madurai , was the Chief Guest and Prof Dr. Sangumani,Dean Madurai Medical College / GRH , was the Guest of honour. Dr.Balasubramaniyan, Medical Superintendent, GRH, Madurai, Dr. Zufire Hasan Mohamed Khan, Deputy Director (TB) / DTO, NTEP - Madurai District, Dr. Natarajan, Professor & Head, Dept. of Medicine, GRH, Dr. R. Prabhakaran, Professor & Head, Dept. of Respiratory Medicine, GRH felicitated the event.

The programme started with a prayer song by our staff Mrs.Mohana. Dr. P. Paul Kumaran, Scientist F, Officer in charge, ICMR- NIRT Madurai unit welcomed the gatherings, and gave away the mementos to our distinguished guests.

Dr. Zufire Hasan Mohamed Khan delivered a lecture on NTEP Recent Advances. Dr.Ramesh Kumar, Scientist E, ICMR-NIRT Madurai unit delivered a talk on Dissemination of Research Activities of ICMR-NIRT, Madurai unit. O ur distinguished Dean Dr. Sangumani and Medical Superintendent Dr.Balasubramaniyan addressed the gathering. Dr.V. Nagaraajan gave us his message appreciating the work of ICMR and the field staffs. Later he along with the Dean felicitated the NTEP staffs for their tremendous support to TB patients during the covid pandemic.

The programme was rendered with vote of thanks by Dr . M. Makeshkumar, Scientist - ‘D' ICMR-NIRT Madurai unit. Dr. N. Pooranagangadevi, Scientist D, ICMR-NIRT Madurai unit compered the event and the event concluded with the National Anthem.

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TB awareness programme
18/03/2021 - 19/03/2021

ICMR-NIRT Madurai Unit organized TB awareness programme at P.K.N Arts and Science College, Thirumangalam, Madurai on 18/03/2021 and NMSSVN College, Nagamalai, Madurai on 19/03/2021 in commemoration of World TB Day 2021. 

Dr. M. Makesh Kumar, Scientist D, ICMR-NIRT Madurai unit delivered a special lecture on “TB Awareness”.  Dr. Poorna Ganga Devi, Scientist D, Ms. Poongodi, Technical Officer-A, Ms. Valarmathi, Senior Technical Officer, Ms. O. R. Vijayalakshmi, Technical Officer-A and Dr. C. Manogaran, Technical Officer-A, were present in the programme.

The programme was attended by about 75 undergraduate students and 100 NSS students, respectively. 

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Commemoration of World TB Day at ICMR-NIRT
24/03/2021

In line with the theme of the World TB Day 2021 (‘The Clock is Ticking') which conveys the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders, and keeping in view of the prevailing pandemic situation, the World TB Day was observed by ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in a simple but thoughtful manner. The event was organised by the TB Awareness Campaign Committee of the Institute. Dr. Saravanan, Sci D, welcomed the gathering and elaborated on the activities carried out by the TB Awareness Campaign Committee towards their only vision, i.e., Awareness on TB. The activities ranged from conducting awareness camps in various colleges in Madurai and Vellore to organising slogan writing competition to the institutional staff to distribution of Badges carrying TB pledge. “TB Talk”, a new informative cum interactive session on TB awareness was launched on the occasion and the first session of the series of lectures was given by Dr. PK. Bhavani, Sci D of the Institute. The talk was presented in a really informative way, covering all the basic information about tuberculosis. A TB Pledge was administered, by which all the staff committed to work towards creating a TB Free World. Results were announced for the slogan writing competition and the winners were felicitated. It was decided to display the winning slogans in the Institutional Website and the same would go into the Institute's Calendar for the coming year.

TB Awareness Videos shot by the TB Awareness Campaign Committee with the help of scientists of the Institute were launched by Mrs. Susila, Senior Administrative Officer and the videos were well received by the audience present. The meeting ended with vote of thanks by Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, where she once again requested each and every one in the Institute to work towards achievement of End TB Target by 2025.

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International Women's day celebration
08/03/2021

International women's day was celebrated at ICMR-NIRT on March 8, 2021. Dr.C.Padmapriyadarsini,  Director, ICMR-NIRT inaugurated the function by lighting the lamp and introduced the theme of international wome n' s day celebration for this year. The senior administrative officer, Mrs. A. Susila  gave a special talk and various cultural activities were conducted by the staff of Clinic, Bacteriology, Immunology and Sociology departments.

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Inauguration of the Biosafety level 3 facility for research activities in Immunology Dept at ICMR-NIRT
22/02/2021

A dedicated biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) facility for tuberculosis related research activities was established in the Immunology Department of ICMR-NIRT on 22nd February 2021. This fully equipped facility was inaugurated by Dr.P.Selvaraj Scientist ‘F' (retired) in the presence of Dr.C.Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT. The  Immunology Department at NIRT has many national and internationally funded projects which aim to provide insights on the genomics and proteomics of the mycobacterial clinical isolates along with studies focused on understanding the human immunological responses to these drug sensitive and drug resistant tuberculosis strains.  The newly inaugurated BSL-3 facility is a containment facility that will be utilized for performing these experiments with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR TB) strains and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR TB)  strains. This facility will provide a safe and infection free environment for the staff who are involved in these research projects.

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Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini MBBS, DNB, MS, Ph.D, The Director, ICMR-NIRT has signed Memorandum of Understanding with Dr. M.Krishnan M.Sc., Ph.D, Vice-Chancellor, Madurai Kamaraj University, Palkalai Nagar, Madurai-625021 on 24th February 2021 .

For the purpose of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Madurai Kamaraj University, Palkalai Nagar, Madurai, a team of ICMR-NIRT Scientists lead by Director had a meeting with The Registrar and staff of Madurai Kamaraj University on 24th February 2021.

The Director of ICMR-NIRT delivered a lecture on Tuberculosis for the students of Vivekananda College, Tiruvedagam West, Madurai on 24th February 2021.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science
12/02/2021

The women scientists and technicians of the Institute proudly celebrated the “International Day of Women and Girls in Science”, for the first time at ICMR-NIRT, on 11th February, 2021. The celebrations included brief speeches by women scientists, nursing staff and technicians of ICMR-NIRT that brought out the importance of women's contribution to research and scientific activities of ICMR-NIRT, in particular and to the world of science, in general. The senior participants of the event were requested to encourage young girls to take up careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), in order to tackle major threats to humanity. The event ended with a special address by the Director.

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Republic Day celebrations at ICMR-NIRT
26/01/2021

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Guest Lecture on CT Scan Brain –interpretation- normal and diseased states
19/01/2021

Speaker: Dr. Bhanu, Former Director of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Madras Medical College

An event for knowledge sharing and professional development was organized by Dr. Narendran Gopalan, Scientist ‘E' of the institute, as a part of the series of CME conducted by the ICMR-NIRT and STREAM Stage-2 Trial Team, starting the first class for this year. Dr. K. Bhanu, Former Director of Neurology, Madras Medical College, Chennai and Consultant Neurologist with her rich academic experience and clinical expertise in the field of neurology, simplified the art of reading CT Scan. There was a good patronage from doctors and other clinical staff.

This guest lecture focused on the basics and application of CT scan imaging system in the evaluation of the diseases of the human brain. Topics covered were CT neuroimaging, presentations of the diseases of the brain, their associated signs and various other manifestations, identification of various parts of the human skull and the brain in the CT images, etc.

Training For National Reference Laboratories On Newer Anti-TB Drugs
07/01/2021

Drug-resistant tuberculosis persists as a major public health concern. Alongside efficacious treatments, widespread usage of validated and standardized drug susceptibility testing (DST) and rapid molecular diagnostic tests are required to optimize care in patients with MDR-TB, especially in low-income countries, where the burden of TB and drug-resistant disease is high . ICMR- NIRT along with Central TB Division New Delhi and WHO, India team conducted first Online Training For National Reference Laboratories On Newer Anti-TB Drugs on 7th Jan 2021 The training was organized to enhance knowledge and skill sets of NRLs in DST to newer Anti-TB drugs.

Objectives of the training are as follows:

•  To train the participants on the guidance for DST to Bedaquiline (BDQ), Delamanid (DLM) & Clofazamine (CFZ) used in the management of DR TB.

•  To orient participants on the molecular methods for detection of resistance to Bdq, Dlm & Cfz.

Participants Include: All NRL microbiologists and senior lab technicians

Proceedings of the training:
Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director , NIRT welcomed the participants and all the presenters, this was followed by talk on Importance of DST to drugs used in the management of DR-TB by Dr. Ranjani Ramachandran WHO, she stressed on the importance of both phenotypic and genotypic DST and also emphasized on the need to carry out come based whole genome sequencing. Dr Manpreet Balla, NITRD shared her experience on newer drug testing at NITRD. This was followed with presentation by ICMR-NIRT staff to cover the following topics.

The training was concluded with vote of thanks by Dr S Siva Kumar.

Workshop on “Revisiting Drug resistant TB in India through Next Generation Whole genome sequencing:
Lessons learned”
30/12/2020

A half a day virtual meeting was conducted at ICMR-NIRT on 'Revisiting Drug resistant TB in India through Next Generation Whole genome sequencing: Lessons learned' on 30 th December, 2020.

ICMR- NIRT has initiated the whole genome sequencing of M. tuberculosis strains since April 2017 through two major studies in partnership with University of Cambridge under the 'The Cambridge-NIRT, Chennai Centre partnership on Antimicrobial resistant tuberculosis (MRC-DBT)' and the other with Centres for Disease Control, Atlanta through the 'Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Co-operative agreement'. An overview of the two projects were given by Dr. K.R. Uma Devi, Principle Investigator. The findings of the studies were presented by Dr. S. Siva Kumar, Dr. S. Sriram and Dr. K.R. Uma Devi, Scientists from ICMR-NIRT. Dr.S. Siva Kumar presented the major findings of the MRC-DBT partnership study under the title 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis Lineage associated mutations leading to drug resistance' and Dr. S. Sriram presented on the “Capacity building for DR-TB outbreak investigations' that was developed through the GHSA Co-operative agreement with CDC. Dr. K. R. Uma Devi presented on the 'Nationwide WGS data on drug resistance tuberculosis” based on the findings from GHSA Co-Ag. The findings from the studies were well received by the participants. The meeting was attended by stakeholders from Central TB Division, WHO Program Officers and Consultants, Directors of all the National Reference Laboratories in India, Members of Scientific Advisory Committee of ICMR-NIRT, Collaborators, the State TB Officer of Tamil Nadu, the District TB Officer of Chennai, Superintendent of Government Hospital-Tambaram, FIND India Officers and by the Doctors and Heads of the various Divisions at ICMR-NIRT. The panel discussion was chaired by Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, WHO and Dr. Patrick Moonan, CDC, Atlanta. The recommendations in the meeting was to have an in-depth analysis of the data presented with a translation value in focus. It was also suggested to develop a Clinical Epidemiology Consortium with experts of this field and plan studies using M.tb WGS data storage and analysis. The meeting ended with the vote of thanks by Dr. K. R. Uma Devi.

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HRQoL Training Programme
01/12/2020

A one-day training programme for the study entitled “Latent class analysis of Health Related Quality of Life of TB patients during and post treatment in a Longitudinal Design” was conducted by the Department of Statistics on 1st December, 2020.  The training was attended by scientific and technical staff of the Departments of Statistics, Health Economics, Clinical Research and Electronic Data Processing Unit.

Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT inaugurated the program and highlighted the importance of research projects under taken by the Department of Statistics. During the course of the training, the study proposal was briefly introduced. The training also covered topics on data collection and data management in Redcap, supervision, monitoring and documentation. Mock interviews were conducted by the study team.

CONSTITUTION DAY
26/11/2020

As per the instruction issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, the staff of ICMR-NIRT, Chennai participated in the reading of the Preamble at 11 AM on 26th November as part of the “Constitution Day” celebration.

A lecture was given by Dr. B.M. Shrinivasa, Scientist ‘B’ of the institute on “Brief introduction to Constitution of India with special mention of Fundamental Right to Health Care” and many senior staff of the institute joined the meeting virtually.

ICMR Workshop for Writing Effective Policy Briefs
19/11/2020

A virtual Workshop on “Writing Effective Policy Briefs” on November 19th, 2020 was conducted.

The Workshop began with Dr C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR-NIRT, welcoming the participants and introducing the speakers of the Workshop. The Director pointed out the necessity and importance of Policy Briefs for research and mentioned that scientists from various disciplines like Bacteriology, Biochemistry, Clinical Research, Immunology, Pharmacology, Epidemiology, Health Economics, Statistics and Socio-behavioural Science, who are working for Tuberculosis research have been included as participants for the workshop. The first speaker, Dr Rajni Kant,  Scientist G  & Director, ICMR-RMRC, Gorakhpur and & Head, RMPPC, ICMR Hqrs, New Delhi, delivered lecture on significance of writing policy briefs in health research and introduced the components of policy brief and the ways to structure the policy briefs for ICMR. The next speaker Dr. Laura Downey, from Imperial College, London, discussed about the importance of evidence-based Policy briefs and the need of policy brief in having effective policies implemented in health sector across India.   Following the talk, the next speaker, Dr. Sanghamitra Pati Scientist G & Director, ICMR-RMRC Bhubaneswar, explained in detail about the various components of the policy briefs, such as, evidence generation, synthesis and collation, translation, role of stakeholders, and the target audience. Besides discussing on the ways of bridging the gap between researcher and policy makers, effective writing of policy briefs were also discussed.  The final speaker, Dr. Neethi Rao, Health Policy & Systems Research Consultant, Bengaluru, briefed about policy entrepreneurs and how to build the body of credibility for policy briefs. In the final session of the workshop, online exercise towards understanding and evaluation of policy briefs was held apart from an interactive session between the participants and the speakers. The workshop concluded with vote of thanks by the Director.

Vigilance Awareness Week 2020
27/10/2020 to 02/11/2020

As per the instruction issued by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), "Vigilance Awareness Week" is being observed from 27th October, 2020 to 2nd November, 2020 at ICMR-NIRT, Chennai.  Accordingly the Integrity Pledge was administered by Dr Hemanth Kumar, Vigilance Officer of ICMR-NIRT on 27th October, 2020 to the senior officials and staff of the institute, in the presence of Dr.C.Padmapriyadarsini, Director of the institute. The staff vowed to work with utmost honesty and transparency. Posters were put up in multiple places within the campus of the institute to reiterate the message of eradicating corruption and maintaining highest standards of integrity and good governance. The theme for this year's "Vigilance Awareness Week" is "Satark Bharat, Samriddh Bharat" (Vigilant India, Prosperous India).

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Awareness session on infection control practices & personal protective measures
12/03/2020 - 17/03/2020

Awareness sessions on infection control practices and personal protective measures were conducted in multiple split groups to all the staff of ICMR-NIRT on 12.03.2020, 13.03.2020, 16.03.2020 and 17.03.2020. The staff were educated about appropriate hand hygiene, cough etiquette, infection control and prevention practices using educational materials from World Health Organisation, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Video by the Tamil Nadu Government.

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Research Dissemination Meeting
11/03/2020

A TB Research Dissemination Meeting was conducted at ICMR- NIRT, Chennai on 11th March, 2020 in commemoration of World TB Day. The meeting was attended by the Joint Director-TB of the State Govt., all stakeholders and collaborators including DTOs, faculties of various medical colleges, ART Medical Officers and WHO Consultants, who are involved in our clinical studies. There was a brief presentation about completed Clinical and Lab studies of ICMR-NIRT. The presentations were mainly focused on ICMR-NIRT's contributions to the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, so far and the future plans to achieve TB elimination. The collaborators also insisted to prioritize our future research studies on some of the key areas like Latent TB Infection, Primary Chemotherapy and modified regime for TB patients with Co-morbidities. They also emphasized that more Socio-behavioural research to be undertaken focussing on multipronged strategies and interventions for TB patients with alcohol and smoking habits. The meeting helped to disseminate our research activities to the stakeholders and collaborators which would help in strengthening ICMR-NIRT's partnership with the State Govt. in enhancing our research activities in future.

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TB Awareness Campaign at Vellore
03/03/2020

As part of TB Awareness Campaign, ICMR-NIRT-Vellore Sub Centre at Government Vellore Medical College & Hospital in Adukkamparai organised two TB Awareness Camps on 3rd March, 2020 for Indian Bank employees, GVMCH Branch and on 6th March, 2020 for the Housekeeping Staff and Patients at the ART PLUS Centre, GVMCH. Around 30 Patients and 60 staff members including Bank Manager & Manager of Housekeeping Staff attended the camp. Medical Officer and Staff of ICMR-NIRT delivered talks on TB, Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus covering various topics including early symptoms and signs, prevention measures, etc. Emphasis was also placed on the need to adhere to medication and regular check-up. Importance of nutritious diet, exercise and avoidance of smoking and alcohol were also emphasized. Following this, participant interactive session was also organised to clarify doubts regarding TB, hypertension and Diabetes mellitus. Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar levels were also tested for the Bank and Housekeeping staff who participated in the camp.

TB Awareness Programme
Organised by the Department of Social and Behavioural Research (DSBR) - 27/02/2020

Awareness among Students :

A TB awareness programme was organized in Zamar Matriculation Higher Secondary School by the Department of Social and Behavioural Research-ICMR-NIRT on 27/02/2020. The programme aimed to enrich the knowledge of TB among school children. The main theme of the programme was:-

• What is TB?
• What is the cause of TB?          
• What are the symptoms?
• How it is transmitted?
• What are the preventive measures?
• Where to go for diagnosing and treatment?
• Is TB treatment free?
• Is TB curable?     
• Is TB hereditary?
• Who are at risk?

The programme began with welcome address given by Mrs. Chandra Suresh, followed by a brief dialogue on TB. Social Work students performed a street play on TB and then, animation movies on TB were also played for the students. A brief interaction was organised between the staff of ICMR-NIRT (DSBR) and the school students. The staff of ICMR-NIRT (DSBR) clarified all the doubts of students on TB. After completing all the formal events, Mr Murugesan P conducted an oral assessment on TB to know the effectiveness of the programme. It was very interesting to know that the students were able to give answers to the questions raised by the staff of ICMR-NIRT (DSBR).

Awareness for Commuters :

TB Awareness Programme was organized at Kilpauk Metro Station, Bus Stop, and Chetpet Railway Station by the Department of Social and Behavioural Research-ICMR-NIRT along with the Intern students from Mercy College, Palakkad, Kerala, on 26 th and 28 th February, 2020. The campaign was organised to create awareness among the commuters about TB. The programme was inaugurated by Dr Srikanth Prasad Tripathy, Scientist ‘G' & Director-in-charge of ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT). ICMR-NIRT (DSBR) staff and Intern students approached the public randomly and gave smiley badges, badges with END-TB note along with the pamphlets which describe the treatment of TB. ICMR-NIRT (DSBR) staff and intern students delivered a brief message to the commuters individually on TB-cause, spread, symptoms, where TB is diagnosed and treated and the fact that TB is curable. They also gave a brief on preventive measures and the need to treat TB patients with dignity, as anyone who breath air is at risk for TB. Through this programme, more than 100 commuters were benefitted and aware about TB including Auto Drivers, Street Vendors, school-going students, Office Staff, etc. The programme provided a great opportunity to demystify the public myths and misconceptions about TB.

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REMEMBERING OUR HEROES
“who made the ‘NIRT’ what it is today”
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Remembering our HEROES
“who made the ‘NIRT’ what it is today”