International Webinar Multidisciplinary Research “Rare Disease Research & Advocacy - Two Sides of a Coin”
Department of Biotechnology and the DeNovo: the Biotech Society organized an International Webinar: “Rare Disease Research & Advocacy — Two Sides of a Coin” on the 16th of April 2022
The two speakers were
Dr. Reena Kartha
Associate Director, Center for Orphan Drug Research
University of Minnesota, USA
Director of Research Programs, IndoUSrare, USA
Dr. Nisha Venugopal
Research Program Manager,
Indo US Organization for Rare Diseases (IndoUSrare)
The webinar was hosted by Ms. Reshma Shravya a 2nd year B.Sc. Biotechnology student. The webinar was organized on the MS Teams platform. The first speaker, Dr. Reena Kartha, spoke about her journey from research in Plant Sciences (during her MSc and PhD) to her current research area in Molecular Pharmacology in Rare Diseases. She briefly discussed her current research in Gaucher’s disease, a rare genetic disorder. She also urged students to find a niche in the field of research of their interest and actively pursue their passions.
Dr. Nisha Venugopal spoke about her journey from Cell biology research during her PhD at CSIR – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB) to her current area of work in Patient Advocacy. She also discussed the different activities carried out by IndoUSrare, the non-profit organization that she is currently associated with.
The session was followed by a QnA round where students and faculty posed interesting questions involving various facets in the expert’s fields including Clinical trials and Rare Disease research. The webinar shed light on several new multidisciplinary areas in biology research that was not previously known by the students and faculty. It also emphasized on the known areas of research thereby further igniting curiosity and research interest in students. The Key values delivered by the speakers include: inculcating curiosity, identifying areas of interest, courage to explore novel less treaded areas in pursuit of a career. All the students were extremely inspired to pursue careers in Rare Disease Research and Advocacy. In addition, the students also received valuable guidance in how to pursue research in reputed foreign universities.
For more information on IndoUSrare and their ventures — https://www.indousrare.org/
Dr. Reena Kartha — https://www.linkedin.com/in/re…
Dr. Nisha Venugopal — https://www.linkedin.com/in/nisha-venugopal