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67th Annual Day Celebrations
04/08/2023
ICMR-NIRT celebrated its 67th Annual Day on 4th August 2023. Dr. Leeberk Raja, Scientist-E & Chairperson of the Annual Day Celebration Committee welcomed the gathering. Prof. R. Shanthi Malar, Director of Medical Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu was the Chief Guest for the occasion. She delivered the keynote address and honoured the staff members who had completed 25 years of dedicated service at ICMR- NIRT. During the event, Mr. Jagadeesan, The Founder & Director of SS Companies was also honoured for his philanthropic support towards Nikshay Mitra initiative of ICMR-NIRT. Dr Lakshmi Murali, Director, State TB Training and Demonstration Centre (STDC) was honoured by Prof R. Shanthimalar for her exemplary contribution for TB and collaboration with ICMR-NIRT. Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR- NIRT presented her report for the year 2022-23 and Dr Bhavani delivered the vote of thanks.
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"Dr Leeberk Raja (Sci-E) and Dr Aishwarya Venkataraman (Sci-E) were guest speakers at the valedictory event of World Breastfeeding Week organized by the SHEEHSA foundation. They spoke on the benefits and significance of breastfeeding for both the mother and the infant, reiterating the importance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. In addition, they emphasised the significance of hygienic practices during the postpartum period in preventing infections including tuberculosis. The event was attended by more than 500 pregnant women and lactating mothers in Chennai"
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Professor Dr. A. Chakrapani Rao Memorial Oration award was received by Dr. G. Narendran, (DNB Chest), ICMR-NIRT by The Association Of Pulmonologists of Seemandhra (APSA) at the Annual Conference of Pulmonologists of Andhra Pradesh 2023 (APSACON 2023) in Rajahmundry in the presence of Senior Chest Physicians of AP
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Training on smoking cessation to health care workers in Madurai
11/08/2023
As a part of the study titled “Smoking Cessation among TB patients in Madurai: aiding TB free Madurai”, a sensitivity and training session on tobacco cessation for the health care workers in TB program of Madurai district was conducted on 11 th August, 2023 at HFWTC Hall, DDHS Office, Viswanathapuram, Madurai. A total number of 186 Health Care Workers (HCWs) – MLHP and HI attended the training in two batches. The training program was jointly organised by ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Deputy Director of Health Services, Madurai and NTEP, Madurai and Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai.
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Independence Day celebrations @ ICMR-NIRT
15/08/2023
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South-East Asia Regional Meeting on South-South Collaboration on Research and Innovation in TB
11/07/2023 - 12/07/2023
WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia and ICMR-NIRT jointly organised a two-day workshop on “South-South Collaboration on Research and Innovation in TB” at ICMR-NIRT, Chennai from 11th to 12th July, 2023. Participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka attended the workshop. In addition, representatives from Gates Foundation, JATA, Stop TB Partnership, TB Alliance, UNITAID, UNITE4TB, USAID and WHO Country Office representatives attended this meeting. This meeting created an opportunity to exchange research and innovation and also helped to identify areas and opportunities for collaboration for research and capacity building among member states.
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Signing of Memorandum of Agreement between ICMR-NIRT
and Central Council for Research in Unani medicine
04/07/2023
ICMR - National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) entered into an Memorandum of Agreement with The Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), Ministry of Ayush, Government of India on 4 th July 2023 to foster collaborative research project entitled "Evaluation of anti-tubercular and immunomodulatory activities of Unani Pharmacopoeial formulations (UPF) Qurs-e-Tabasheer Sartani and & Arq-e-Hara Bhara through in-vitro and in-vivo studies".
The MoA was signed by Dr. N. Zaheer Ahmed, Director General, CCRUM and Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT in the presence of senior officials/scientists of both the institutions. CCRUM and ICMR-NIRT agreed to collaborate in the fields of their mutual interest and work collaboratively on a major public health problem.
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International Yoga Day celebrations @ ICMR-NIRT
21/06/2023
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Meeting on “Accelerating TB Elimination: Learnings from TB Prevalence Surveys”
13/06/2023
A meeting on “Accelerating TB Elimination: Learnings from TB Prevalence Surveys” was jointly organized by Central TB Division and ICMR–NIRT on 13 th June 2023 at ICMR-NIRT, Chennai. Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR-NIRT welcomed the delegates from CTD, WHO-India, National Task Force, State and District Programme Officers of NTEP.
Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Head, ECD Division, ICMR and Dr. Rajendra P Joshi, DDG (TB), MoHFW, Govt. of India and Dr. R.K. Dewan, Director, NITRD delivered the opening and inaugural remarks.
The findings of “National TB Prevalence Study”, “District Level Annual Survey”, and “3HP implementation challenges” were presented during the deliberations. The key findings and gaps identified were discussed for implementation among the stakeholders to achieve the End-TB goal.
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50th Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Meeting of ICMR-NIRT
28/04/2023
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Inauguration of Wings of Support-Child, Adolescent and Young Adult TB Wellness centre at ICMR-NIRT
by Dr. DJ. Christopher (Chair, ICMR-NIRT-SAC)
28/04/2023
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National Coordination Committee Meeting for NRLs
17/04/2023 - 18/04/2023
The National Coordination Committee Meeting for the National Reference Laboratories (NRL) was held on 17th and 18th April 2023 at SPT Conference Room in ICMR-NIRT, Chennai. The meeting was inaugurated by Dr. Nishanth Kumar, Joint Director (Public Health), MoHFW, Dr. Ranjani Ramachandran, NPO, WHO-India Office and Dr. Rajendra P. Joshi, DDG (TB), MoHFW. The welcome address was given by Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT and the financial discussion by Mr. Swarnendu Singha, Under Secretary, NTEP, MoHFW. All the NRLs viz., NITRD (New Delhi), RMRC (Bhubaneshwar), NTI (Bengaluru), NJIL&OMD (Agra), BMHRC (Bhopal), NIRT (Chennai) and CTD laboratory team participated in this meeting and presented their supervisory activities for their respective states.
The key findings and gaps have been analysed in the implementation of the integrated algorithm among the respective states to achieve the END Tb Strategy 2025.
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Community Advisory Board meeting of ICMR-NIRT
05/04/2023
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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR SOCIAL WORK -2023
Mr. P. Murugesan, Senior Technical Officer, Department of Social and Behavioral Research, ICMR-NIRT, has been awarded with the "Lifetime Achievement Award-2023" for his remarkable contribution in the field of Social Work for more than 28 years, by Manamakil Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Research Foundation, Villupuram, and Balasaranya Rehabilitation Centre, Tirunelveli on the occasion of World Social Work Day (March 21, 2023).
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ICMR-NIRT Symposium on Tuberculosis and Adolescents at RGNIYD, Sriperumpudur on World TB Day
24/03/2023
Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Sriperumpudur, Tamil Nadu organized a two day national conference on "Youth in 21 st Century: Prospects and Psychosocial Challenges in collaboration with ICMR-NIRT.
This national conference was held on 24-25th March, 2023 at RGNIYD campus in Sriperumbudur and was attended by various stakeholders, particularly working in the area of youth development in the country. The conference discussed on youth development and psychosocial related issues. Considering the importance of youth engagement for achieving TB Free India by 2025, RGNIYD in collaboration with ICMR-NIRT hosted a symposium on the bio-psycho-social approaches to address Tuberculosis, among adolescents and younger population in India. The symposium was chaired by Dr. Beena E Thomas (Former Scientist & Head, DSBR of ICMR-NIRT). The speakers at the symposium were Dr. N. Karikalan (Scientist & Head, Dept. of Social & Behavioural Research, ICMR-NIRT), Dr. V. Aishwarya (Scientist, Dept. of Clinical Research, ICMR-NIRT), Dr. V. Venkatesh Mathan Kumar (Professor of Psychiatry, IMH, Kilpauk Medical College), Dr. S. Elilarasi (Professor & Head, Dept of Paediatrics, Savitha Medical College), Dr. S. Lalitha (Asst Professor, Dept. of Social Work, RGNIYD). The symposium was enthusiastically attended by participants from different parts of the country. Prof. Sibnath Deb, Director of RGNIYD, and conference organizers appreciated the participation of ICMR-NIRT and felicitated the participants.
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Nikshay Mithra Initiative @ Thiruvallur District on World TB Day, 2023
24/03/2023
National Tuberculosis Elimination programme (NTEP), Thiruvallur District organized a programme in the Health Sub Centre, Ekkadu, Thiruvalluvar District as part of World TB Day observation on March 24, 2023. The programme was inaugurated by the Respected Dr. Alby John Varghese, District Collector, Thiruvallur and was attended by patients, NTEP staff and Dr. Lakshmi Murali, District Tuberculosis Officer. During the event, livelihood support (a modern tailoring machine) which was mobilized by ICMR-NIRT as part of “NIKSHAY MITHRA” initiative was provided to the needed patient by the District Collector. The donor Mr Sampath & Shanti (SS Group of Company, Anna Nagar) were acknowledged for their contribution and the District Collector acknowledged the role of ICMR-NIRT for contributing to NIKSHAY MITHRA in the district. Mrs. Dhanalakshmi, Technical Officer, DSBR received the award on behalf of ICMR-NIRT. The programme concluded with the TB pledge.
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TB awareness talk & a scientific workshop at Cauvery College for Women, Tiruchirappalli
20/03/2023
As part of the observation of World TB Day 2023, a TB awareness talk and a scientific workshop was conducted on 20 th March 2023 at Cauvery College for Women, Tiruchirappalli. The awareness talks were given by Dr. S Savithri, Deputy Director Health Services (TB) and District TB Officer, Tiruchirappalli and Dr. M Muniyandi, Scientist-D and Head, Department of Health Economics, ICMR-NIRT. Following this Dr. M Muniyandi conducted a research workshop for the students and faculties of various colleges to build research capacity in Health Research with focus on mathematical modelling. The workshop was enthusiastically attended by students and faculties.
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International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment (ISHTA-2023)
10/03/2023
International Symposium on Health Technology Assessment (ISHTA-2023) with the theme of “Affordability, Availability, and Accessibility of Health Care Technologies through evidence generated by Health Technology Assessment for Universal Health Coverage” was held on the 10 th of March 2023 at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi. Three HTA evaluation studies conducted by ICMR-NIRT were selected for HTA Marketplace in the symposium. Shri. Jagdeep Dhankhar, Honourable Vice President, Government of India and Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Honourable Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Government of India and Dr. Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research, Government of India and DG ICMR visited the stall put up by ICMR-NIRT at the Marketplace. C-Tb skin test kit for latent TB screening was positively appreciated by the Honourable Vice President. The stall was visited by many researchers and HTA specialists from WHO, Geneva and Centre for Global Development, Europe. HTA team lead by Dr. M Muniyandi from ICMR-NIRT participated in the Symposium.
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CDC recognises
ICMR-NIRT scientist as “Global TB Elimination Champion”
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Inauguration of Patient Support Group
World TB Day - 2023
22/03/2023
World Tuberculosis Day is observed every year on March 24. On the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day 2023, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM)-Tambaram, and National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP)-Chengalpattu jointly organized an event to provide TB awareness and support to those affected by tuberculosis. As part of this event, “Wings of Support (Udhavum Siragugal)” – a patient support group was launched and inaugurated by Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR- National Institute for Research Tuberculosis to help those affected by the disease.
The program with an engaging and entertaining street play by social work students conveyed messages about TB awareness, dispelled myths surrounding the disease, and highlighted available treatments.
Further, the Wings of Support group conducted a group activity that included a group discussion aimed at providing emotional support for those affected by the illness and their caregivers. In this event, patients and their caregivers shared their experiences of treatment and the methods they adopted to combat the disease with enthusiasm and hope.
Dr. Vinod Kumar, MD, Superintendent-GHTM, Dr. M. Radhika, RMO-GHTM Dr. Kaleeshwari, District Tuberculosis Officer-Chengalpattu, and Dr. N. Karikalan, Head-Department of Social and Behavioral Research, ICMR-NIRT participated in the program. The community advisory board members and social activists Mr. Suresh M and Mr. Joseph Julian also participated in the event. Staff members of GHTM, NTEP, ICMR-NIRT, and intern students from Loyola and SRMIST College also participated in the event.
Finally, everyone took the World Tuberculosis Day Pledge.
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2nd National Conference of Tamil Nadu Statistical Association (TNSA)
17/03/2023 - 18/03/2023
The 2nd National Conference of Tamil Nadu Statistical Association (TNSA) was held at ICMR- National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT), during 17th -18th March 2023 with active participation of faculties, researchers and students working in the area of Statistics. The conference with the theme “Statistical Challenges in Big Data Analysis” was organized by the Dept. of Statistics, ICMR-NIRT. The organizing team was led by Dr.C.Ponnuraja as Organizing Secretary, Dr. Adhin Bhaskar as Joint Organizing Secretary and Mr. S. Padmanaban as Treasurer. Professor Dr. V.G. Kaliaperumal (Dept. of Statistics, NIMANS, Bengaluru, Retired) was the Guest of Honor of the conference. The conference felicitated senior and retired faculties who have given significant contribution to the domain of Statistics. More than 70 scientific papers were presented in the two days conference in ten scientific sessions. The conference was also having many invited talks on machine learning and big data analysis given by Dr. P. Venkatesan, Prof. K.Senthamarai Kannan, Prof. L. Jayaseelan, Dr. C. Muthu and Dr. C. Ponnuraja. More than 170 delegates attended the conference from various regions of India. Dr. P. Venkatesan (Scientist F and Head, ICMR-NIRT Retired) as the President, Prof. R. Ravanan (Joint Director, Collegiate Education, Chennai) as the General Secretary and Dr. N. Viswanathan (Associate Prof & Head, Department of Statistics, Presidency College, Chennai) as the Treasurer are the Office Bearers of the Tamil Nadu Statistical Association.
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Meeting with student and women organizations of Senapati District, Manipur for TB Elimination project
13/03/2023
A joint meeting on engaging student and women organizations as volunteers to improve tuberculosis case finding and treatment adherence was held on 13-03-2023 at the Senapati District, Manipur. This meeting was conducted as part of the ongoing ICMR-NIRT study “An innovative approach for engaging student and women organizations to improve tuberculosis case finding and treatment adherence: a step toward tuberculosis elimination programme in Senapati district Manipur”.
The meeting was conducted with the participation of ICMR-NIRT, NTEP, Senapati District, Directorate of Health Services and National Health Mission (NHM) Senapati District Manipur. Representatives from CSOs of the district were part of the meeting. The meeting was also attended by the Senapati District Collector (DC), Shri. Mahesh Chaudhari.
Dr. Stephen, ICMR-NIRT briefed about the project, and explained the role of students and women organizations as volunteers to help in TB activities such as collecting and transportation of sputum and monitoring treatment adherence in their respective village. He highlighted that the project aims to reach the unreached population and make Senapati district as a model TB free district. He urged all to join hands in eliminating TB from the society. He also outlined the project activity timelines and training schedule for volunteers.
Senapati District Collector (DC), Shri. Mahesh Chaudhari, emphasized that it was an opportunity for the district to showcase the concerned departments can work along with the district CSOs under the district administration, as a team, to bring about a positive change in TB elimination. He mentioned the importance of TB appropriate behavior and TB specific IEC materials. Participants were enthusiastic and the event was widely covered by the district media.
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International women's day was celebrated at ICMR-NIRT
08/03/2023
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Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology-Madras
21/02/2023
ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR-NIRT) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) on 21st February, 2023 to validate a novel (Point of Care) TB diagnostic tool.
IIT-M developed a plasmonic fiber optic absorbance biosensor (P-FAB) device for detection of M.tb LAM in urine for TB diagnosis. ICMR-NIRT will take the lead in validating this device using urine samples from Tuberculosis patients.
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Workshop on “Capacity Building for TB research under programmatic settings”
(SEAR RRP TB Workshop)
14th – 16th February, 2023
ICMR-NIRT and The Union jointly organised a three-day workshop on “Capacity building for TB research in programmatic settings” at ICMR-NIRT, Chennai from 14th - 16th February, 2023. A situation analysis of SEAR countries on existing practices and challenges in TB surveillance, TB laboratory capacity and TB preventive therapy was carried out and they were invited for capacity building. Eight SEAR countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Sri Lanka participated in the capacity building workshop. This workshop was conducted to ensure relevant information on TB surveillance, diagnostics and preventive therapy are provided and research priorities were identified. Ten concept notes on research gaps in the tuberculosis surveillance, diagnostics and preventive and operational research was developed. Multidisciplinary projects will be started based on the concept notes by second quarter of 2023.
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Dissemination Meeting on TB-Transportation workers study
30/01/2023
A Dissemination Meeting was conducted by the Department of Social and Behavioural Research (DSBR), ICMR-NIRT on 30th January 2023 to share the findings of the study on “Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards Tuberculosis (TB) and Feasibility of TB Screening among transportation workers in Chennai”. Mrs.Shanthi (Assistant Manager, Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Chennai), Mr. Ramesh (Branch Manager, Adyar Bus Depot), drivers and conductors from State Transport Dept. attended the meeting. Other dignitaries included Mr. Mangaleswaran (State ACSM Officer, NTEP), Dr. Renuka Ramakrishnan (Community Health Leader), Mr. Suresh Mariaselvam (CAB Member), Mr. G.K. Dhas (Mother Teresa Auto Drivers Welfare Association, Chennai) and representatives from various departments of ICMR-NIRT attended the program. The meeting began with a welcome address by Mrs. Chandra Suresh, Sr. Technical Officer of DSBR, followed by display of a short introduction video about ICMR-NIRT to the participants. Dr. N. Karikalan (Head, DSBR) presented the study findings. Further discussion was held on the findings of the study and its implications, with active participation by the attendees. Participants, especially MTC staff, gave their valuable inputs and feedbacks about the "TB-IEC tickets" and expressed their willingness to be Transportation Ambassadors for tuberculosis elimination. The meeting ended with vote of thanks by Mr. Murugesan, Sr. Technical Officer of DSBR.
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ICMR-DHR Outreach Program for Ethics Committees
25/01/2023
An Outreach program for Ethics Committees was conducted at ICMR-NIRT, in collaboration with ICMR Bio-Ethics Division and Department of Health Research, Govt. of India on 25th January 2023 chaired by Smt.Anu Nagar, Joint Secretary-DHR. It was an advocacy call for Chairpersons, Member Secretaries and non-medical members of Ethics Committees to come forward to share their difficulties and challenges faced and various solutions were also provided by Dr. Roli Mathur, Head of Bio-Ethics Division, ICMR and the Joint Secretary along with members from DHR. Many key stake holders representing various government and private medical colleges, health departments, NGOs participated in the program, which helped in involving a wide spectrum of organisations with different capacities and interests.
The program was inaugurated by Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT followed by introductory remarks from Dr. Roli Mathur (Scientist-F & Head, ICMR Bio-Ethics Unit) and special address by Smt. Anu Nagar (Joint Secretary, Department of Health Research) with the vote of thanks by Dr.G.Narendran (Scientist-F & Member Secretary-IEC, NIRT).
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Republic Day 2023 Celebrations @ ICMR-NIRT
26/01/2023
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Workshop on Tuberculosis Knowledge-base and Knowledge-graph
19/01/2023
The workshop on “Tuberculosis Knowledge-base and Knowledge-graph” was conducted by ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with Open Source Pharma Foundation (OSPF) & Ingentium for the scientists of NIRT. The workshop started with the welcome note by Dr.V.Umashankar (Scientist-E & Convenor) and opening remarks by Dr. Jayakumar, Co-founder & MD of OSPF. Subsequently, the technical presentations on knowledge graphs and drug discovery, Evidence data lake were delivered by Dr. Keith Ellistion (CIO, OSPF), Dr. Richard Belvins (CIO, Ingentium) and Dr. Rudy Potenzone (COO, Ingentium). The hands-on workshop of the platform was conducted by Dr. Nibedita Rath (Scientific Director, OSPF). The concluding remarks session was presided by Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director (ICMR-NIRT) wherein, the potential applications of this platform in TB research and scope for collaborations were discussed with the scientific team.
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Signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai on 6th January, 2023.
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“Learning Exposure Visit” of NTP Timor-Leste to ICMR-NIRT, Chennai, and adjoining districts
17/12/2022 to 24/12/2022
A team headed by National Tuberculosis (TB) Manager with Municipal Medical Officers and Municipal TB Coordinators of Timor Leste had visited ICMR-NIRT for “Learning Exposure Visit to ICMR-NIRT, Chennai, and adjoining districts from 17th to 24th December, 2022. As in India, the Prime Minister of Timor Leste has also committed to end TB by 2025, and towards this endeavor, 6 municipalities have undertaken pledge to end TB by 2025 and representatives from these districts visited ICMR-NIRT to observe the efforts of NIRT and the state of Tamil Nadu towards ending TB. During the exposure visit, they also visited DTC Puliyanthope , DTC Tiruvallur, Intermediate Reference Laboratory Chennai and Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (DRTB Centre) Tambaram. Also, a two member laboratory team, as part of the above delegation, got trained in various TB diagnostics practiced at NIRT including genome sequencing. The visit was sponsored by WHO Timor Leste.
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Modified BPaL Clinical trial: Investigators' meeting for dissemination of interim results.
20/12/2022
 
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Special talk on “Combating Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace”
07/12/2022
The Internal complaints committee (ICC) for sexual harassment of women at workplace organized a sensitization programme on 07-12-2022 to observe the “Women safety, security and empowerment”. Dr. Kalpana from SRM Medical College (External member of the ICC) was invited as the resource person to deliver a special talk on “Combating Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace.
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Workshop on “Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases focusing on Tuberculosis”
14-16 November 2022
The workshop on “Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases focusing on Tuberculosis” was facilitated by Dr. Sandip Mandal, Independent Consultant and Mr. T. Kannan, Technical Officer. The workshop was attended by thirty participants including Scientists and Technical Officers from various ICMR institutes, Academicians and Research Scholars from Medical Colleges. This workshop covered extensively on all the steps in developing infectious disease models using a simple force of infection and dynamic forces of infection. The workshop also covered the basics of designing and simulating a compartmental model. In addition, hands-on training was given to design models such as an SIR (S-Susceptible; I-Infectious; R-Recovered), compute Basic Reproduction Number (R 0 ), building equations were demonstrated. Hands-on training was also provided for using R software to build the model. Participants were divided into five teams and a follow-up workshop was proposed to track their progress. All the participants expressed that the learnings from the Workshop will be useful in developing model on any infectious disease.
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Inauguration of short course TB Preventive Treatment
12/11/2022
Inauguration of short course TB Preventive Treatment by Dr. K. Senthilraj, District Collector, Thoothukudi at Thoothukudi in presence of DD-TB and Dr. Makesh Kumar (Senior Scientist, ICMR-NIRT) among others.
Press Clip:
https://www.thehindu.com/.../tb.../article66129092.ece
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Bailey K Ashford Medal 2022
Dr. Subash Babu, NIH Scientist & Scientific Director of International Center for Excellence in Research Programme in ICMR-NIRT was awarded the 2022 Bailey K Ashford medal by the ASTMH (American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene) for his distinguished work in tropical medicine (Tuberculosis). He is the first Indian to receive the medal.
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BIRD Award 2022
Dr. V. Umashankar, Scientist-E, ICMR-NIRT was presented with Bioclues, Innovation, Research and Development (BIRD) Award for the outstanding contribution in the area of Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics for the year 2022, at the International Conference on Frontiers in Nutrition, Medical Genomics, and Drug Discovery (Inbix22), held at Vignan University, Andhra Pradesh on 1st Nov 2022. Bioclues is an affiliate of International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) and Asia-Pacific Bioinformatics Network (APBioNet).
 
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Next Generation Sequencing Data Analysis in Tuberculosis Research: a Launchpad
One Day Workshop
Organized by ICMR-NIRT
27/10/2022
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Data Analysis skillsets have become essential for the biologists in this Post Genomics Era. The application of NGS technologies has majorly impacted the healthcare domain, in terms of advancing precision diagnostics. Especially in rapid identification of mutational spectrum in infectious bacteria and formulating relevant treatment modalities for infectious diseases like Tuberculosis. To enable efficient planning and execution of NGS based diagnostics/research, it becomes essential to organize training programs to equip the aspiring biologists and medical professionals. Hence, envisaging this need, ICMR-NIRT organized a workshop to train different data analysis modules for Genome assembly, mapping, annotation, variant calling etc., using GALAXY server, as a Launchpad for self-learning and exploration. The workshop was inaugurated by
Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT, followed by lectures by Dr. Sivakumar (HOD, Dept. of Bacteriology) and Dr. V. Umashankar (Scientist-E, Dept. of Virology & Biotechnology). Subsequently, hands-on training was conducted by Dr.V.Umashankar (Organizing Secretary), Dr.Naveen Kumar and Dr.Ashok (Project Scientists, ICMR-NIRT) as resource persons. The participating members included researchers, graduates and post graduate students from different institutions across South India. The workshop was well received and a series of similar events are being planned for the future.
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Visit of Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secy-DHR & DG-ICMR
20/10/2022
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TB Awareness and Screening Camp at Child Faith Home for Children and Women
01/10/2022
A TB awareness and screening program for the inmates of Child Faith Home for Children and Women located in Manapakkam, Chennai was conducted on 1 st October, 2022. The event was organised by the Depts. of Social and Behavioural Research, Clinical Research and Epidemiology. The event was inaugurated by Dr Karikalan, Head-DSBR and Dr Sriram, Head-Epidemiology, followed by which TB awareness activities were conducted by Mr Murugesan and Mrs Chandra Suresh, Senior Technical Officers, DSBR. Mr Suresh and Mrs Sujatha, Members of the Community Advisory Board of ICMR-NIRT welcomed the participants. Subsequently, more than 100 residents of the home including children and their care takers were screened for TB and other health issues by Clinicians of ICMR-NIRT. The event was concluded with heartfelt thanksgiving of the children and Mrs. Sujatha, Director of Child Faith Home.
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CME on Pharmacovigilance in TB
22/09/2022
As part of National Pharmacovigilance Week celebrations of ICMR-NIRT, a CME was conducted on “ Pharmacovigilance in TB ” on 22 nd September 2022. The sessions in CME included 1) Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) in drug-sensitive TB by Dr S. Kumar, Senior Pulmonologist, 2) ADRs in drug resistant TB by Dr P.M. Ramesh, Professor and Superintendent, GTHTM, Otteri, and 3) Current update in ADR in India by Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, Senior Principal Scientific Officer, IPC, Ghaziabad.
Dr. D. Baskaran, Scientist-F, ICMR-NIRT, presented the development of NIRT AMC and released a pamphlet developed by ICMR-NIRT to create awareness among health care workers on ADR reporting. About 85 participants attended the CME and among them, 55 attended online. The participating members included pulmonologists, District TB Officers, faculties of Pharmacology from Medical Colleges, Postgraduates in Respiratory Medicine and Pharmacology, and other students and doctors from ICMR-NIRT.
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Blue Sapphire Jubilee Celebration
20/08/2022
ICMR- NIRT celebrated its 65- year legacy in fighting against tuberculosis on 20 August 2022. The Blue Sapphire Jubilee Celebrations were graced by Thiru. Ma. Subramanian, Hon'ble Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu as the Chief guest. The Hon'ble minister released a short film on the milestones of NIRT since its inception. The health minister in his speech said that the state government is very keen on eliminating TB to achieve TB-free Tamil Nadu by 2025.
Thiru. I.Parandhaman, Hon'ble Member of Legislative assembly from Egmore Constituency released a Photobook on the achievements of NIRT and it was received by Dr P.Senthil Kumar IAS, Principal Secretary, Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu. The guest of Honour Dr T.S. Selavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine mentioned that ICMR- NIRT has a good collaborative partnership with the state on many research projects. He also thanked NIRT for its support in completing the Tamil Nadu TB prevalence survey.
Thiru.R. Ramakrishnan IAS, Senior Deputy Director General of ICMR highlighted that ICMR institutions played a crucial role in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the state's efforts. The director of NIRT Dr.C. Padmapriyadarsini welcomed the dignitaries and briefed the institution's ongoing research activities and plans.
The Hon'ble Minister presented awards for “Exemplary contribution to the research in ICMR- NIRT” to Dr P.R.Narayanan, former Director of ICMR- NIRT and Dr Vijayalakshmi Thanasekaraan, Professor of Pulmonology and former Chairperson of Institutional Ethics Committee, ICMR – NIRT. He also presented longevity awards to three of the staff for completing 25 years of service. The program ended with a Vote of Thanks followed by the National anthem
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Release of NIRT Short Film & Photo Book
Release of Short Film on ICMR-NIRT's achievements by Thiru. Ma. Subramanian, Hon'ble Minister for Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Govt. of Tamil Nadu, on the occasion of the 65th Annual Day of ICMR-NIRT.
Short Film | Photo Book
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Research Guidance Workshop for PhD scholars and Post-Doctoral fellows
08/08/2022 & 10/08/2022
ICMR-NIRT conducted “Research Guidance Workshop for PhD scholars and Post-Doctoral fellows” on 8th and 10th August 2022. This workshop was conducted for PhD scholars and Post-Doctoral fellows to help them refine their research projects and acquire necessary skills for effective research management. Dr. V.D. Ramanathan (Scientist ‘G’ (Retd.), ICMR-NIRT), Dr. P. Selvaraj (Scientist ‘F’ (Retd.), ICMR-NIRT), Dr. Geetha Ramachandran (Scientist ‘E' (Retd.), ICMR-NIRT), Dr. N.S Gomathi, (Principal Technical Officer (Retd.), ICMR-NIRT) and Dr. Vishwanathan (Associate Professor and Head, Department of Statistics, Presidency College) presided over the workshop as faculties and gave guidance and advice to the students and Post Docs.
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Dr. Banu Rekha - Participation in 6th Annual Medical Excellence Awards 2022
01/08/2022
Dr. V.V. Banu Rekha, Scientist 'E', ICMR-NIRT participated as a Guest in the "6th Annual Medical Excellence Award" function organised by World Tamil Chamber of Commerce on 1st August 2022 in Hotel Le Royal Meridien, Chennai. Shri Arif Mohammed Khan, Hon'ble Governor of Kerala was the Chief Guest for the event. Awards were presented to the Best Doctors, Medical Awareness Programs, Medical Products and Best Hospitals during the event.
 
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ICMR-Major General Saheb Singh Sokhey Award-2020
Dr. N. Pavan Kumar, Scientist ‘C', ICMR-NIRT was presented with ICMR-Major General Saheb Singh Sokhey Award for the year 2020, for his outstanding contribution in the field of Immunology of TB and Diabetes Mellitus.
 
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Visit of Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya (Hon'ble Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare) to ICMR-NIRT, Chennai
26/06/2022
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Release of TB Mutation Catalogue during the visit of Hon’ble Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare
to ICMR-NIRT, Chennai.
26/06/2022
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International Yoga Day @ ICMR-NIRT
21/06/2022
The 8th International Yoga Day was observed at ICMR-NIRT Chennai on 21st June 2022. Ms. V.M. Girija Lakshmi (Sr. Tech. Officer) demonstrated, “Yoga for stress-free work place”, along with Mr. Gunalan and Mr. Pravin Kumar Singh, Members of NIRT Yoga Centre. The demonstration was followed by address by Dr. M. Muniyandi, Scientist ‘D' & Head, Department of Health Economics. The Chief Guest for the event, Mr. Joseph Julian, Wellness Consultant–SRMIST delivered his message on “Effects of Yoga on functional capacity and wellbeing”. More than 70 members participated in this event which ended with vote of thanks from Mr. L. Gunalan.
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Community Volunteers for TB-Free South Chennai.
11/06/2022
ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with Greater Chennai Corporation and National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, conducted an Orientation and Training program for the community volunteers on 11th June 2022 at Semmenchery UPHC. Around 36 active volunteers from various background participated in coordination with and support from Thozhamai, NGO. The event commenced with the welcome address delivered by Mr. Murugesan, Department of Social and Behavioral Research . Dr.Padmapriyadarsini, Director ICMR-NIRT delivered a special talk on the importance of TB elimination and its burden to the Community. Dr. Jaganadhan, Zonal Health Officer (Zone 15) explained the importance of TB awareness and the role of Community volunteers in TB elimination in an interactive way. A TB Documentary movie was projected to the audience for better understanding about the disease.
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Dr S Sriram, Scientist D (Medical) & Head of Epidemiology Dept, ICMR-NIRT sharing his thoughts about the Tobacco-TB comorbidity in the ‘Makkal Medai’ programme held as a part of World No Tobacco Day (31-05-2022) in DD Podhigai Channel.
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Community Advisory Board (Cab) Meeting of ICMR-NIRT
25/04/2022
The Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting of ICMR-NIRT was held on 9th May, 2022 at ICMR-NIRT. The Community Advisory Board was reconstituted with experts from various fields working for different sections of the society. This meeting aims to get inputs from community experts for implementing community centric research studies. The event began with welcome address by Mr. Murugesan, STO-2, Dept. of Socio-Behavioural Research. Followed by this, a detailed round of introduction was given by the CAB members. Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director of ICMR-NIRT, gave the introductory remarks and explained the needs and importance of CAB. Further, she elucidated clinical trials of ICMR-NIRT and the importance of CAB in ensuring patient centric approaches and processes. Dr Karikalan, Head, DSBR provided a brief overview of mandates of CAB and the role of members. The Principal Investigators of various projects presented their new study protocols and were provided with critical inputs by the CAB members. Ways to address patient and community concerns were discussed and elaborated. Dr Karthikeyan, Chairperson of CAB acknowledged the importance of studies and emphasized the patient and community aspects of studies. The meeting concluded with vote of thanks for CAB members and all the participants.
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Dissemination Meeting of Paediatric TB Research
25/04/2022
ICMR-NIRT conducted ‘Dissemination Meeting of Paediatric TB Research’ on 25/04/2022, where completed two major clinical trials (SHINE study & TBM Kids) were presented to paediatricians across the country, NTEP/CTD programme representatives and other stakeholders/collaborators.
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TB Awareness Program for Students
28/04/2022
NIRT conducted an awareness program which included talk, movie and villupattu in Thirumurugan Arts and science college for Women, Thiruvallur. It was well received attended by more than 250 students.
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COVID-19 Vaccine Post Introduction Evaluation (cPIE)
13/04/2022
To identify the current best practices, gaps and lessons learnt and to propose actions to strengthen the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination.
cPIE-
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51st Pre-Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting
19/04/2022
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Swachhta Pakhwada-Felicitation Ceremony
13/04/2022
A programme to reiterate Swachhta Pakhwada and honour the staff who actively participated in the events, was organized by the Institutional Hygiene Committee. It was presided by Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director. A talk on "Protecting Natural and Human resources" was delivered by Mr. Sathyamurthy, Dept. of Virology and Biotechnology. Prizes were distributed to the staff nominated by the HODs from each of the department for maintaining a clean office work space and contributed to a clean and hygienic environment in the Institute. Prizes were distributed to the wards of staff, who participated in the poster competition on the theme "Our Planet Our Earth". The ceremony ended with vote of thanks and National Anthem.
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Swachhta Pakhwada-Voluntary cleaning activities
As part of Swachhta Pakhwada 2022, voluntary cleaning activity was carried out in all the departments and all staff participated in the cleaning activity enthusiastically.
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Poster Competition for Swachhta Pakhwada and World Health Day
07/04/2022
As a part of Swachhta Pakhwada and World Health Day, Poster Competition was conducted for the children of ICMR-NIRT staff with the World Health day theme 'Our Planet Our Health". Children actively participated in the competition. A panel of judges selected the best posters.
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TB awareness program for Hearing impaired students of Presidency College, Chennai
as part of World TB Day 2022
08/04/2022
ICMR- NIRT in collaboration with Presidency College conducted an awareness program in commemoration of World TB Day, 2022. The programme was organized on 8th April 2022 at Presidency College Auditorium. Around 250 Hearing impaired Under Graduate students participated in the event. The event commenced with the welcome address delivered by Dr.Mukesh Devan, Head of the Department of Statistics and Presidential Address was given by Prof. Raman, Principal, Presidency College. Dr. N Karikalan , HOD, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT gave a special talk on the importance of TB elimination and its burden to the students. The talk was interpreted by Dr.N. Vinodh simultaneously in sign language to the hearing impaired students. Mrs. Chandra Suresh, STO, DSBR explained the TB facts and the role of students in TB elimination in an interactive way. Post the talk the speakers addressed various questions posed by the audience. Villupaatu on TB awareness was performed by Mr. Murugesan, STO, DSBR and Mrs.Kokila, Project Technical Officer, DSBR which was interpreted simultaneously in sign language to the students.
Mr. Kumar, Guest Lecturer, Presidency College organised and facilitated the whole program. An Animated TB documentary movie was shown to the audience for better understanding.
Dr.D.Philip and Mrs.P. Sasikala delivered the vote of thanks to the gathering. The students volunteered themselves to lead the TB pledge and the program concluded with National Anthem.
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Awareness programme on biomedical waste management to housekeeping staff
08/04/2022
An awareness programme was conducted to the housekeeping staff of ICMR-NIRT by the Dept. of Clinical Research and NIRT Hygiene Committee on 08.04.2022. Around 45 staff participated in the meeting. Dr. Baskaran, HOD, Clinic stressed about the importance of safe and clean environment. He also thanked the staff for helping to keep the institute clean and hygienic. Dr. Bella Devaleenal, Chairperson, Hygiene Committee explained the purpose of the meeting and the importance of following safety precautions during biomedical waste management. Mrs.Gunasundari, Mrs.Valarmathi and Mrs. Shakila from the Department of Clinical Research explained about biomedical waste management, segregation and disposal, various colour codes for segregation and the importance of following safety precautions while doing cleaning and disposal of biomedical waste. Plastic free health and hygiene kit containing a cloth bag, steel plate, masks were distributed to the participants.
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Swachhta Pakhwada -Community awareness about health and hygiene
06/04/2022
As part of Swachhta Pakhwada, the DSBR team of ICMR-NIRT visited slum dwellers in Chetpet, to provide them awareness about hygiene and sanitation for prevention of diseases. The programme was organized on 6th April 2022 (World Health Day). Around 40 community members assembled, where Mrs. Chandra Suresh, STO, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT welcomed the gathering and delivered a message on hygiene and sanitation to the participants. Mr. P Murugesan, STO, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT addressed the community members and made the session interesting by way of singing hygiene and TB awareness songs. Mr. Stephen A, Scientist B, DSBR explained about the role of community in keeping their environment clean and tidy. DSBR staff and Social Work Internship students participated and helped to organize the events. The speakers also addressed various questions posed by the audience related to health and hygiene. Plastic free health and hygiene kits containing steel lunch boxes, soaps were distributed to the participants.
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Lecture on healthy environment for improving public health
06/04/2022
As part of Swachhta Pakhwada activities in the Institute , a talk on sustaining a healthy environment for improving public health was delivered by Dr. Chitra Grace, Associate Professor, Global Institute of Public Health. She is an expert in environmental sciences and a public health specialist. The lecture focussed on clean environment, pollution (air, water and soil), harms of plastic and pesticide usage and ways to prevent it for better quality of life.
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World TB Day - TB Awareness Program for students of Don Bosco Matriculation School, Vyasarpadi, Chennai.
29/03/2022
In commemoration of World TB Day, ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with Equitas Small Finance Bank organized a TB Awareness Program on at Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Vysarpadi, Chennai on 29th March 2022. Around 200 students participated in the event with their teachers and Head Master Fr. Tony Robert . The event commenced with a talk on TB by Mrs. Chandra Suresh, STO and Mr. P. Murugesan, STO, ICMR-NIRT to students of 9th to 12th class followed by display of TB documentary movie and TB animated movie for the audience for better understanding in a child-friendly way. Post the talk the speakers addressed various questions posed by the gathering. Mr. Krishnamoorthy from Equitas Bank gave the final remarks and honored all the speakers and organizers. The programme concluded with the TB Pledge. Mr.Vignesh and Mr Manikandan, Student trainees from Dr Ambedkar Govt Arts College facilitated this Awareness Program.
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Swachhta Pledge & Plantation of saplings
01/04/2022
As part of Swachhta Pakhwada, the following activities were conducted on April 1st 2022:
Swachhta Pledge
The staff of ICMR-NIRT Chennai took Swachhta Pledge. The pledge was administered by Mrs. Devaki, Sr. Admn. Officer
Beautification of the campus and inauguration of a landscape
Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT planted an ornamental plant in the landscape which is being developed near the entrance of the institute. Dr. D. Baskaran, Head-Dept. of Clinical Research, members of Hygiene Committee and Administrative staff were present during the inauguration. Mrs. Devaki, Sr. Admn. Officer, planted a sapling in the campus of the Institute.
Swachhta pledge was taken by Staff of NIRT Madurai Unit
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Modified BPaL Trial - Investigators' Meeting
29/03/2022
ICMR - NIRT organised an Investigators' meeting for Modified BPaL clinical trial at Le Meridien, New Delhi on 29th March 2022, supported by iDEFEAT TB project, The UNION. The program was felicitated by Dr. Umesh Alavadi, USAID India, Dr. K.S. Sachdeva, The Union, Dr. Ravinder Kumar, TB Specialist, CTD and Dr. Malik Parmar, WHO India. Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR - NIRT presented the progress update of the Modified BPaL clinical trial. A refresher training on study procedures & redcap entry were given to all the study investigators.
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World TB Day - Awareness Program
28/03/2022
A program on TB Awareness was organized on 28th March, 2022 at the Department of Spoken English, Pasumpon Muthu Ramalinga Thevar College (PMT), Usilampatti, Madurai District as part of World TB Day activities of ICMR-NIRT. Adv. Mr. Ponram, Professor and Legal Advisor of PMT College briefed about the need of TB awareness among students.
Welcome address was given by Dr. Thavamani, Deputy Principal and Head-Rural Development Department, wherein he stressed the role of rural development students on creating TB awareness in rural areas. Dr. M. Makesh Kumar (Scientist –D), ICMR-NIRT (Madurai Unit) shared the main studies conducted by ICMT-NIRT since its inception and shared some insights on TB, mode of its transmission, prevention, free diagnosis and treatment. He delivered a special talk on World TB Day 2022 with emphasis on its theme. He also highlighted the role of students on TB elimination and involvement of NCC volunteers on TB Elimination activities in Madurai District. About 100 students from the Depts. of Rural Development, English and BBA of the College participated in the program.
A small quiz contest was conducted by Mrs. Deepalakshmi, Mrs. Porselvi, Mr. Anbumayan and Mr Murugan, staff of ICMR-NIRT (Madurai Unit) and prizes were distributed for contest winners. Vote of thanks was given by Mr. R. Pandi, Vice Principal of the College.
 
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Commemoration of World TB Day 2022
24/03/2022
Word TB Day was commemorated with full enthusiasm on 24th March 2022. Dr Mahilmaran, Director-ITM, Chief Guest released a book titled, "Low Cost and Wholesome Nutritional Recipe for Tuberculosis Patients" and delivered a special talk on "Invest to End TB, Save Lives". Dr V Xavier Christu Rajan, Sr. Asst. Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, KMC & Nodal Officer, DMS launched the online training course, "Manage TB" for practitioners & Postgraduate Medical students. The student winners of elocution competition on "Invest to end TB, save lives" from 4 different Colleges (Dhamamurthi Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu College, Dr MGR-Janaki College for Women, Vels Institute of Science, Technology & Advanced Studies & Madras Christian College) were given prizes during the function. This was followed by cultural programmes by students of Madras School of Social Work. All the participants took a pledge to try to eliminate TB by 2025. The commemoration ended with vote of thanks by the Member Secretary of NIRT Celebration Committee.
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TB Awareness Program for National Service Scheme (NSS) Student Volunteers of SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST)
25/03/2022
As part of World Tuberculosis Day, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, in collaboration with SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST), Chennai, organised a "TB Awareness Program" in Kalvoy Village at Government Primary Health Centre, Chengalpet District, at the SRMIST National Service Scheme (NSS) village camp on March 25, 2022.
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Tuberculosis (TB) Awareness Program at AISWO, Thanjavur (World TB Day)
23/03/2022
On March 23, 2022, as part of World Tuberculosis Day, a "TB Awareness Program" was conducted by ICMR-NIRT in association with Adaikalamatha Institute for Social Work (AISWO), Adaikalamadha College, Vallam, Thanjavur. Dr.T. Muthukumar, HOD, AISWO, delivered the welcome address, and Mrs. M. Vanitha, Assistant Professor, AISWO, gave a brief overview regarding the event's objectives. Mr. P. Murugesan, STO-2, DSBR, interactively presented basic facts about tuberculosis and also performed a TB awareness program through Villupattu at the gathering. Mr. Mahendran, Chief Librarian, Adaikalamadha College, Mrs. Tamilselvi, Managing Trustee, We-Trust, Trichy, and Mr. Eliayaraja, Secretary, Manamakil Psychiatric Rehabilitation & Research Foundation, Villupuram, also took part in this event. This programme was attended by about 40 Master of Social Work (MSW) trainees. Students enthusiastically participated and learned the facts about tuberculosis, and took the TB pledge to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025. Mr. K. Gopi, Lecturer, concluded the event by thanking the gathering.
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World TB Day - Awareness Program for NSS Student Volunteers
10/03/2022
As part of World TB Day 2022, a "TB Awareness Program" was organized by ICMR-NIRT on 10th March 2022 at Kandaswamy Naidu College located in Anna Nagar, Chennai. Dr. Murugakoothan, The Principal of the college delivered the welcome address to the gathering. NSS Coordinator, Dr. Indumathy gave a brief introduction about the purpose of the program to the NSS students. Around 60 NSS student volunteers participated in this program. Mrs. Chandra Suresh, STO, DSBR presented basic facts of Tuberculosis in an interactive way. Mr. Murugesan, STO, DSBR explained the importance of World TB Day and its theme for 2025. A TB documentary movie was played for the students for better understanding. Students actively participated and understood TB facts and took TB pledge at the end. The program was coordinated by Mr. Vignesh and Mr. Manikandan, MSW trainees from Dr. Ambedkar College.
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World TB Day - Awareness Program for school students
21/03/2022
ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with Equitas Small Finance Bank and TTK Hospital (T.T. Ranganathan Clinical Research Foundation) organised an awareness programme for Students in commemoration of World TB Day at VS Nethaji Matriculation school, Perambur, Chennai. Around 70 students from 9th to 12th Std. participated in the event with their class teachers and Head Mistress, Ms. Rekha. The event commenced with a talk on TB by Mr. P Murugesan, STO, ICMR-NIRT followed by an interactive session . The students enjoyed the TB awareness songs and video presentations. Further, the session on alcohol and substance abuse was delivered by Ms. Sheeba and Ms. Shalini from TTK Hospital. Mr. Sreenath and Ms. Chinnu , MSW Student trainees from Loyola College facilitated the program. Mr. Krishnamoorthy and Mr. Prakash from Equitas Bank expressed their gratitude and honored all the speakers and organizers. The programme concluded with TB pledge administration.
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Workshop on Health Economics
22/03/2022
The objective of the workshop is to provide technical support on application of economic tools in health research and to generate health economics evidence to make decisions relating to drugs, devices, treatment pathways and preventative health intervention strategies.
 
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Hands-on Workshop on 'Next Generation Sequencing in Tuberculosis Diagnosis & Research'
07/03/2022 - 09/03/2022
A hands-on workshop on 'Next Generation Sequencing in Tuberculosis Diagnosis & Research' was jointly organized by the Department of Immunology, ICMR-NIRT & M/s Premas Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi on March 07th -09th 2022 at ICMR-NIRT, Chennai. This workshop witnessed the participation of 14 students and researchers from both Academia and Industry.
The three-day workshop was organized with the intent to give hands-on exposure to the participants for the application of Illumina Next-Generation Sequencing technology for Tuberculosis Diagnosis & Research. The focus of the workshop was to highlight the key concerns around Tuberculosis including multi drug resistance, and equip the participants with hands-on training for the entire workflow of Next-Generation Sequencing including Library Preparation, Sequencing run and Data analysis. The workshop also included special talks about Single Cell Genomics and Clinical applications of NGS.
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World TB Day - TB Awareness program
Dr Mahesh Kumar, Scientist ‘D’ along with NIRT staff Delivered TB awareness talk
at Shri Meenakshi Government Arts College as part of World TB Day celebration.
 
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Dissemination Workshop on Health Technology Assessment in India
18/03/2022
ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, jointly with National Health Mission, Government of Tamil Nadu organized a one-day Dissemination Workshop on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) studies done in India. The purpose of this workshop was to disseminate findings of HTA studies to the key health officials, State Health Program Managers, policymakers and Medical College Post Graduate students in Tamil Nadu. The Workshop also intended to set priorities for HTA in the state and equip the participants on the different aspects of decision making and policy implementation through Health Technology Assessment.
HTA Studies in India
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World TB Day - TB Awareness program
Madras Christian College
17/03/2022
Second year Social Work students (UG) of Madras Christian College visited ICMR-NIRT campus on 17th March, 2022 for an observation visit and for a orientation on the occasion of World TB day, 2022. Dr. Sylvia Daisy, Assistant Professor, MCC lead the team of sixty students to ICMR-NIRT.
Mr. P Murugesan, STO-2, ICMR-NIRT gave orientation for the staff on the patient care activities at ICMR-NIRT. Further the students attended a special talk on gathered at Robert Koch auditorium where gave a brief introduction to the students. Dr. N Karikalan , HOD, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT addressed the gathering and talked about TB and the importance of world TB day, 2022. After the talk the forum was open for questions and various queries of the students were addressed by the speakers. The programme was concluded by taking the TB pledge.
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World TB Day - TB Awareness program
Madras School of Social Work
17/03/2022
ICMR- NIRT in collaboration with the Social work Forum of Madras School of Social Work conducted a seminar in commemoration of World TB day, 2022. The programme was organized on 17th March 2022 at TAG Auditorium, MSSW. The event commenced at 11 am with a welcome address by Dr. J S Gunavathy HOD, MSSW. The programme overiew was presented by Dr. P Amuthalakshmi, Assistant Professor. The Principal of MSSW, Dr. S Raja Samuel felicitated the gathering. Chief guest Dr. Banurekha, Scientist E, ICMR-NIRT spoke about World TB day 2022 and its importance. and its relevance. Dr. N Karikalan , HOD, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT gave a special talk on the importance of social and behavioral interventions to eliminate TB. This was followed by a talk on Role of social workers in TB patient care and community mobilization by Mr. P Murugesan, STO, ICMR-NIRT. Post the talk the speakers addressed various questions posed by the audience. Street Theatre and villupaatu on TB awareness was performed by students of MSSW and the programme was concluded by taking the TB pledge.
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World TB Day - TB Awareness program for School Students, Kannigapuram
10/03/2022
As a part of World TB Day, ICMR-NIRT and Friends Empowerment and Education to Society (FEETS) NGO jointly organized a TB awareness programme on 10th March, 2022 at A.D.W. Boys Higher Secondary School, Kannigapuram, Chennai. Around 80 students from 8th to 12th Std participated in the program. FEETS NGO president Mr.Soundharaja and their volunteers actively participated in the program. An animated TB documentary movie was scrolled for the students to explain TB in a child friendly way. Mr. P. Murugesan, STO, DSBR, NIRT presented the TB facts and the treatment availabilities to the students. Students enthusiastically answered the questions at the recap sessions. Program ended with TB pledge. The program was coordinated by Mr. Vignesh and Mr. Manikandan, MSW students from Dr. Ambedkar Government Arts College, Vysarpadi, Chennai.
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International Women's Day Celebrations at ICMR-NIRT
08/03/2022
ICMR-NIRT organised a program to celebrate the "International Women's Day" on 8th March, 2022. Dr. Padmapriyadarsini, Director welcomed
Dr. Sonal Chandra (IPS), Superintendent of Police, Chennai (Chief Guest) and other participants and conveyed her Women's Day wishes. The Chief Guest of the program motivated women staff of ICMR-NIRT and shared her ideas on women empowerment. Dr. Prathiksha, Chairperson of Internal Complaints Committee for Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace thanked the Chief Guest and other staff for their active participation in the event.
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Capacity Building Workshop on use of Next Generation Sequencing for improved surveillance and outbreak investigations of drug-resistant Tuberculosis
14/12/2021
The effective management of TB and drug resistant TB relies upon rapid diagnosis and effective treatment of resistant infections. Culture-based phenotypic DST methods are currently the gold standard for drug resistance detection, but these methods are time-consuming, require sophisticated laboratory infrastructure, qualified well trained staff and strict quality control. Next generation sequencing (tNGS and WGS) allows laboratory staff to provide this information in less than two weeks.
The Workshop on genotypic DST by tNGS and WGS to newer and repurposed drugs is organized with the following objectives:
• To orient the participants on the methods available for genotypic DST to anti- TB drugs.
• To update the participants on the technical review of evidence by WHO for genotypic DST.
• To train the participants on Next generation sequencing methods for prediction of drug resistance and Cluster identification.
• To impart training on TB cluster detection and drug resistance prediction by tNGS and WGS for individualized TB treatment
In the Workshop, 26 participants from different parts of India were trained on Whole genome sequencing and targeted next generation sequencing for prediction of cluster and drug resistance prediction. The workshop was inaugurated by Smt. Anu Nagar, Joint Secretary DHR, followed by the address of Dr Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT to the participants and the special address from Dr Vineet Bhatia. On the first and last day of the Workshop, a written test (Pre-Test and Post-Test) was conducted for the participants to assess their learning capability in the subject.
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INAUGURATION OF BSL3 FACILITY AT BACTERIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
17/12/2021
A Bio-Safety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility for tuberculosis diagnostics and research activities was established in the Department of Bacteriology of ICMR-NIRT. This fully equipped facility was inaugurated by Dr. U.D. Gupta, Director (Retd.), ICMR-NJILOMD, Agra and Dr. N.S. Gomathi, Scientist (Retd.), ICMR-NIRT, in the presence of Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT on 11th December 2021. This facility will provide advance technology in biosafety for handling infectious pathogens to the staff who are involved in the diagnostic and research activities.
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TB Awareness Programme for Marginalized Community
17/12/2021
A "TB Awareness Program" was organized on 17th December 2021 at Kattunayakan community. Twenty parents and children from the community participated in the programme., Mr. Murugesan (STO) and Mr. Rony Moral (Project TO) from DSBR presented basic facts of Tuberculosis and conducted a TB Folk song. A puppetry show was organised by Ms. Hanupriya P (MSSW Student Trainee) which was used to explain facts about TB in a child friendly manner. The participants actively participated and understood the basic facts about TB. A pre and post test among participants showed that there was a notable difference (35%) in the knowledge related to TB among them during post awareness session.
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49th Scientific Advisory Committee Meeting 2021 of ICMR-NIRT
10/12/2021
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XV Biennial Virtual Conference of International Biometric Society
Indian Region and Pre-conference e-workshop on “Survival Analysis”
16/11/2021-17/11/2021
The XV Biennial e-conference of International Biometric Society (IBS) -Indian Region on the theme "Statistical Challenges in Clinical Trial" held during 16-17 November, 2021 and pre-conference e-workshop on "Survival Analysis" held on 15th November, 2021 were organized by Department of Statistics, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai. The virtual-conference and pre-conference e-workshop were inaugurated by Dr. C. Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT, Chennai. The participants including IBS members, students and research scholars from various universities, scientists and academicians attended through online meeting platform. The workshop predominantly concentrated on the concepts of survival model and its advances in clinical research and public health fields. The experts on survival analysis from ICMR-NIRT, Sri Ramachandra University, Presidency College, Chennai and St. John Medical College, Bengaluru delivered talks on survival modeling using parametric, non-parametric and machine learning methods. The emerging topics in the field of survival analysis were also discussed in the workshop. A total of 113 participants attended the conference either virtually or physically. Four invited talks were delivered by eminent scientists and professors from various institutes. A total of 35 scientific papers were presented in the conference on various statistical topics. A special keynote address on clinical trial was given by Prof. Andrew Nunn, MRC UCL, Clinical Trial Unit, London, UK. The program ended with valedictory function in which the President and the secretary IBS-IR wished all the participants and thanked the Department of Statistics, ICMR-NIRT for organizing the conference and workshop successfully.
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First Regional Consultative Workshop on Health Technology Assessment
26/11/2021
The Regional Resource Centre for Health Technology Assessment in India (HTAIn), ICMR-NIRT in collaboration with ICMR-NIE, National Health Mission, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu and Department of Health Research, Government of India organised the “First Regional Workshop on Health Technology Assessment” in Tamil Nadu on 26th November 2021. The purpose of this workshop was to provide an orientation on HTA for the key health officials of Tamil Nadu. The participants included The Directors, Additional Directors, Joint Directors, Assistant Programme Officers, Programme Managers, Consultants of NHM, DMRHS, DME and TNMSC. The workshop aimed to set priorities for HTA in the state and equip the participants on the different aspects of decision making and policy implementation through Health Technology Assessment. The workshop was inaugurated and felicitated by Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare Government of Tamil Nadu, Joint Secretary, DHR, Government of India and Mission Director, National Health Mission, Government of Tamil Nadu, Director, ICMR-NIRT, Director, ICMR-NIE, Chairman and members of Technical Advisory Committee, HTAIn and DHR. Resource persons from ICMR-NIRT, IICMR-NIE, PGIMER, IDSI conducted sessions on HTA included an overview of activities, milestones of HTAIn, Costing database, willingness to pay and state specific needs for implementation of HTA. At the end of the workshop participants prioritized eight topics for undertaking HTA in Tamil Nadu in the areas of tuberculosis, hypertension, anaemia, chronic kidney disease, oral cancer, air pollution and Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme.
Photo Gallery | HTA Workshop Report 
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Essentials of Good Clinical Practice and Research Ethics
17/11/2021
Training session on "Essentials of Good Clinical Practice and Research Ethics" was jointly organized by the Department of Clinical Research, ICMR-NIRT and Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu on 17 November, 2021 in Chennai. The objective of the session was to sensitize the Ethics Committee Members of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine to enable them to perform their functions in accordance with the principles of ICH GCP (Good Clinical Practices) and Ethical standards. The 20 participants included Members of Ethics Committee and Officials of Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu. Scientists from ICMR-NIRT, Chennai were the faculty for the training session. The training session focused on Principles of Good Clinical Practices, Overview of National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research involving Human Participants, 2017, Constitution and responsibility of Ethics Committee, Informed consent process, Ethics in Public Health Research, Ethics in research involving vulnerable population, stored samples/data.
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ICMR-NIRT celebrated "Vigilance Awareness Week & National Unity Day"
29/10/2021
"Vigilance Awareness Week & National Unity Day" Photo Gallery
"National Unity Day" - Patriotic songs by children of ICMR-NIRT staff members
"National Unity Day" - Patriotic speech by children of ICMR-NIRT staff members
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Fit India Freedom Run 2.0
01/10/2021
In order to commemorate the 75th year of independence, ICMR-NIRT has made grand arrangements on 01-10-2021 to involve and encourage active participation of the staff members of ICMR-NIRT in "FIT INDIA FREEDOM RUN 2.0". The central theme of the event is "TUBERCULOSIS FREE INDIA! FIT INDIA!!" Dr N Saravanan, Chairman of NIRT Celebration Committee invited Dr Padmapriyadarsini, Director, ICMR-NIRT to preside the event and welcomed the Special Guest Mrs C Latha, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Athletics Association & Joint Secretary, Athletics Federation of India. After the inaugural speech by Special Guest, staff members made a formation of numeric 75 to honour the heroes of free India movement. Following this, the Special Guest and the Director, ICMR-NIRT flagged off the Fit India Freedom Run 2.0. Around 160 staff members actively participated and completed roughly 2 km distance.
Photo Gallery
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Training on "Basics of Qualitative Data Analysis using NVivo"
24/09/2021
An online training on "Basics of Qualitative Data Analysis using NVivo" was conducted on 24th September 2021 at ICMR-NIRT. The training was organized as part of the capacity building initiative of the Socio Behavioral Research Network for TB (SBRN-TB) of ICMR-NIRT. The training program was coordinated by Dr. N. Karikalan, Scientist & Coordinator, SBRN-TB and was attended by members of SBRN-TB from ICMR-NJIL&OMD (Agra), ICMR-NIOH (Ahmedabad), ICMR-BMHRC (Bhopal), ICMR-RMRC (Bhubaneshwar), ICMR-NIRTH (Jabalpur), ICMR-RMRI (Patna), ICMR-NARI (Pune), ICMR-RMRC (Port Blair) and ICMR-NIRT (Chennai).
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Quiz competition on Pharmacovigilance for nursing staff of ICMR-NIRT
22/09/2021
As a part of the celebration of National Pharmacovigilance Week at ICMR-NIRT a Quiz competition was conducted for the nursing staff on 22nd September 2021 at Chennai, Madurai, Thiruvallur and Vellore units. There were a total of 36 participants who attended in team of two members.
Photo Gallery
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Distribution of Pamphlets on Pharmacovigilance to create awareness to healthcare workers
23/09/2021
As part of the celebration of National Pharmacovigilance Week at ICMR-NIRT, Pamphlets on Pharmacovigilance were distributed to create awareness to health care workers and professionals. ICMR-NIRT prepared a pamphlet with meaning of pharmacovigilance, importance of Adverse Drug Reporting (ADR), TB & Pharmacovigilance and ways of reporting ADR in India, and also mentioning National Pharmacovigilance Week celebration theme of this year. The e-Pamphlet of ICMR-NIRT was released by the Director virtually on 17th September 2021 during the webinar with a speech on Pharmacovigilance in India by Dr. V. Kalaiselvan, from Indian Pharmacopeia Commission organised by NIRT. The copies of the e-Pamphlet were sent to all those registered for attending the webinar by mail. Scientists, doctors, nurses and other staff of NIRT disseminated copies of e-Pamphlet to their known health care professionals/ workers through social media. Printed copies of the e-Pamphlet were distributed to the Doctors, and other Health care workers who are closely associated with NIRT and subcentres at Madurai, Vellore and Thiruvallur including Government Rajaji Hospital & Madurai Medical College, Madurai, Govt Stanley Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, Institute for Child Health and Hospital for Children, Chennai, Govt Vellore Medical College and Govt Medical College Hospital, Thiruvallur.
Photo Gallery
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Sensitization of Clinic staff of NIRT in Pharmacovigilance
20/09/2021
The Director, ICMR-NIRT initiated a series of events for celebration of National Pharmacovigilance Week at the Institute, including Sensitization of Clinic staff of NIRT in Pharmacovigilance. Dr. S. Ramesh Kumar, Scientist E, ICMR-NIRT made a presentation on "Pharmacovigilance: Basic understanding" to Clinic staff of ICMR-NIRT at Chennai, and the Sub- Centres at Madurai, Vellore, Thiruvallur units connected virtually, on 20th September 2021 from 2.00 PM to 3.00 PM. He briefed on Pharmacovigilance program of India, the importance of adverse drug reporting (ADR) in Clinical trials and at post-marketing level. He explained what to report, how to report ADR in India and what happens after reporting. He explained about the importance of TB and Pharmacovigilance. About 60 number of NIRT Clinic staff including doctors and nurses attended the meeting.
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Online Awareness Program for school students on Lung Health and Tuberculosis
11/09/2021
A webinar to create awareness on "Lung Health" with emphasis on Tuberculosis was conducted for private school children on 11th September 2021 by the Department of Social and Behavioural Research (DSBR), ICMR- NIRT. The webinar was supported by Prime Assist, an organization working for mental health wellness of school children. A total of 120 students participated from various private schools in Tamil Nadu, which included Jaigopal Garodia Vivekananda Vidyalaya-Avadi , Ananthavalli Mat. Hr. Sec. School-Urapakkam, Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School-Coimbatore and Subbiah Vidyalayam-Thoothukudi .The session was handled by Dr. N. Karikalan, Scientist & Head, DSBR, ICMR-NIRT. He explained the importance of lung health to children and elaborated on the causes, symptoms and treatment for Tuberculosis. The importance of TB preventive measures like BCG vaccination, cough hygiene was explained and the contribution of school children in TB elimination program of the country was stressed. Post session, students inquired on different aspects of TB, which was clarified. Students provided positive feedback on the session and few expressed their interest to share the TB related information and awareness to their family members and others. The webinar concluded with thanking message from students.
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National Pharmacovigilance Week Celebration by NIRT:
Webinar on "Current Update on Pharmacovigilance activities in India"
17/09/2021
A Webinar on "Current Update on Pharmacovigilance activities in India" was organized by ICMR-National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis in association with The Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, the National Coordination Centre for Pharmacovigilance Program of India,(NCC-PvPI) on 17th September 2021 between 2.00 PM and 3.00 PM. The event was organised as part of the National Pharmacovigilance Week’ Celebration, with this year's theme being, “Pharmacovigilance: A step towards Patient Safety”
A total of 217 registrations were received for the hybrid webinar (both online and virtual mode). Around 100 participants attended the webinar, moderated by: Dr Ramesh Kumar, ICMR- NIRT, and team of ICMR-NIRT. Dr V. Kalaiselvan, Senior Principal Scientific Officer, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ghaziabad was the invited guest and he delivered a talk on “Current Update on Pharmacovigilance activities in India”. It was a very informative update on the current Pharmacovigilance activities in India, the significant role of Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission. He detailed the milestones crossed, the challenges and future needs. E-Pamphlet on Pharmacovigilance developed by ICMR- NIRT to create awareness on Pharmacovigilance to Health Care Workers and Professionals, was released online by the Director, NIRT. The event ended with the Vote of thanks by Dr Ramesh Kumar, ICMR-NIRT, Madurai Unit.
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ICMR-NIRT Short Film
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