Inauguration of the New Composite TB Research Facility (BSL-3, ABSL-3 & Biorepository) at ICMR-NIRT, Tiruvallur
The New Composite TB Research Facility at ICMR-NIRT, Tiruvallur Campus consisiting of BSL-3, Animal BSL-3 & Biospecimen repository was inaugurated/dedicated to the nation by Shri. Narendra Modi, the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India (through video conferencing) in the presence of Dr. Manuskh Mandaviya, the Hon'ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and other eminent dignitaries. The live telecast of the event was screened at the site of the event, which was attended by around 150 participants including current & retired staff and well-wishers of the institute.
The Biospecimen Repository is an extremely valuable asset to the nation and a much needed resource for the TB research community for supporting development of TB diagnostics and biomarker research. The BSL-3 TB containment laboratory is A fully equipped state-of-the-art facility for improving and scaling up detection of TB and MDR-TB. The lab is also equipped to perform whole genome sequencing to support the development of useful diagnostic and therapeutic leads. The Animal BSL-3 laboratory will support research in vaccine development and testing as well as preclinical and translational research for TB. This new facility comes as a boon to scientists in India working on Tuberculosis to expand their scope of work and accelerate basic and translational research to support global TB elimination efforts.
The occasion also witnessed honouring of Dr. Manjula Datta, a renowned epidemiologist from the institute, with an award for her exemplary achievements in the field of TB epidemiology. Dr. Hanna (Senior Scientist of NIRT) eloquently read the citation, highlighting Dr. Datta's contributions to advancing our understanding of TB and shaping public health policies. Dr. Aleyama Thomas & Dr. Srikanth Tripathy (former Directors of NIRT), Dr. Jawahar, Dr. Ramanathan, Dr. Gomathi (retired Senior Scientists of NIRT), Dr. Lakshmi Murali (Director, STDC-TN), Dr. Sangeetha (District TB Officer-Tiruvallur) and Sh. Rajesh Khare (Chief Engineer, CPWD-Chennai Zone) were felicitated by Dr. Padmapriyadarsini (Director of ICMR-NIRT).
