Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Bengaluru and the Harvard South Asia Institute, Cambridge, have collaborated to drive research on neurosciences. Through a B4 program both IBAB and SAI are working to create a scientific research corridor to engage scientists from India and Harvard through exchange programmes.

As a first step to bolster research in neurosciences, Harvard South Asia Institute viewed the need to engage faculty and students through interdisciplinary programmes to advance and deepen the teaching and research in neurosciences. “With 2 billion people facing similar challenges throughout South Asia, there is a critical need for solutions and systems to support such a significant global population, said Prof. Venkatesh Murthy, Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology Director of Undergraduate Studies in Neurobiology, Harvard University.

Prof. Murthy was here in India to unveil the Knowledge Exchange Platform: Frontiers in Neuroscience. The objective of the Knowledge Exchange Platform is to connect academia, industry and government that share a common interest in neuroscience. The initiative is supported by the Department of Biotechnology, Departments of Information Technology & Biotechnology, Department of Science and Technology and Government of Karnataka, he added.

As part of the Knowledge Exchange Platform a two-week course in neuroscience for 25 undergraduate and post graduate technology students is being held between December 29 2016 and January 11, 2017 at IBAB. The programme introduced the Indian students to the excitement of brain science. Advanced undergraduate at least two years of study and graduate students from any scientific or technical background related to the course from an institution of higher education in India. An interdisciplinary approach on the problem of the brain will be particularly eye-opening for engineering and physical science students in India, who are traditionally insulated from biology, said Prof. Murthy.

It is becoming critical for students to interact with different players in the ecosystem, including relevant government bodies, and scientists/executives in industry. At the Knowledge Exchange Platform, the panel moderated by Prof. Murthy and Prof Mukund Thattai of NCBS included experts from the government’s departments of science & technology and information technology as well as medical devices industry.

Harvard University formally recognized the South Asia Initiative as an academic institute in 2013, signalling the university’s longstanding commitment to the region and the beginning of a new era for South Asian studies at Harvard. The program builds upon the Resonance Program, a collaboration between MIT, Harvard, and IIT Delhi. Representing IBAB was Dr. N. Yathindra , Director, Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bengaluru.