CUPB organized lecture series and poster making competition to mark International Day of Immunology
Bathinda : To mark International Immunology Day, the Department of Microbiology of the Central University of Punjab, in collaboration with the Indian Immunology Society, organised an invited lecture series and poster-making competition on the focal theme of ‘Immunology Talks to Public Health’. The invited speakers for this programme were Dr. Kamal Kant, HoD, Dept. of Microbiology, AIIMS, Bathinda, and Dr. S. Krishmoorthi, Dept. of Microbiology, AIIMS, Bathinda, who shared their expertise on the importance of immunology in public health..
At the outset, Prof. Monisha Dhiman, Director of IQAC and the programme convener, welcomed the participants. She stated that the objective of International Immunology Day celebrations is to increase global awareness of the importance of immunology and demonstrate how our understanding of human immunology can improve public health.
On this occasion, Dr. S. Krishmoorthi stated that immunology is a branch of science that studies the immune system and how it protects against infectious diseases. He highlighted that the COVID-19 virus has highlighted the role of immunology experts in managing this pandemic. These experts have significantly contributed to COVID-19 management by understanding the immune response to the virus, developing vaccines, monitoring vaccine effectiveness, and studying the long-term immunity of the public. The field of immunology is constantly evolving and offers exciting opportunities to its researchers’ areas such as personalised immunotherapy, gene editing, immunometabolism, and vaccine development for emerging diseases.
Dr. Kamal Kant mentioned that “Public Health” is the science of promoting and protecting public health. Immunology and Public Health are two fields that are closely linked, and their experts must work collaboratively to safeguard and enhance public health by creating strategies to control the spread of infectious disease, developing new treatment techniques, and designing awareness campaigns for timely screening and early detection. He shared that immunology and public health experts have contributed to the development of mRNA vaccines, which have been shown to be highly effective in preventing severe illness. Research collaboration in immunology and public health has the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of people around the world by developing personalised vaccines and novel immunotherapies for chronic diseases such as cancer.
On this occasion, students displayed beautiful posters on the theme “Immunity and Nutrition: How to Boost Your Immune System” . Saakshi Sharma and Nandini Gupta stood first and second in the competition, followed by Harsimrat and Beenu, who got third place. A team of Shahena and Simran from Baba Farid College won a consolation prize. Towards the end, Dr. Somesh Barnwal, HoD, Department of Microbiology, expressed his gratitude towards the invited speakers. He congratulated the winners of the poster-making competition.
On this occasion, the other faculty members of the CUPB Microbiology Department, Dr. Mukesh K. Yadav, Dr. Pramod K. Khushwaha, and Dr. Amit Singh, along with the department staff, were present. Students from different departments at the university attended this programme.