Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India today celebrated its 12^th Foundation Day. 

Dr. Jitendra Singh ji, Honourable Minister of State (IC), Minister of Science and Technology MoS (IC) Earth Science, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, presided over the foundation day function as the chief guest.

The function began with the inauguration of the high-end facilities by the Hon’ble Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh ji. He inaugurated the Immunology core lab, Biosafety Level-3 Facility (BSL-3), Small Animal Facility (SAF), Ferret Facility, Bio repository and Office of Connectivity.

In the Director's address, Prof. Pramod Garg highlighted the major achievements of THSTI in the past year in various areas such as Tuberculosis, Influenza, Pregnancy Cohorts, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, etc.  He stressed upon the stellar role and significant contribution by THSTI in COVID-19 particularly in vaccine development such as Sputnik and Biological E, biorepository of >5000 samples of covid-19 and antibody kit development.

During the inaugural address, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, USA talked briefly about the COVID-19 spikes in US and also in India. He highlighted the efficacy and safety of COVAXIN vaccine especially against the B.1.617.2 (Delta) Variant.

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist, WHO delivered the foundation day address. She spoke about the lessons learnt from the pandemic, and the way forwards to mitigate the pandemic. In her talk, she congratulated THSTI for having the facilities and cohort studies already in place that helped THSTI to contribute in COVID-19 studies.

In her keynote address, Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT, highlighted the huge role played by DBT in various aspects such as vaccine development, setting up of network for virus sequencing to identify emerging virus variants, and supporting industry for developing critical infrastructure and equipment for COVID-19. She also lauded the efforts of THSTI in the current pandemic.

Addressing the gathering, Hon’ble Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh ji stated that unlike other research institutions, THSTI is envisioned as a collective of scientists spanning different domains, physicians, and engineers who together would effectively enhance the quality of human life. He appreciated the achievements of THSTI in the areas of Tuberculosis, Viral Infections, mother & child health and recently in the fight against the COVID pandemic. He stated that the various state of the art facilities like BSL-III facility, Experimental animal facility, Ferret facility, Biorepository, and Immunology core facility will serve as national resources that would encourage high-end research in India paving way to achieve Atma-Nirbharta in various spheres of science & technology much like our success in space and defence. In his address, Dr. Singh said “India strives to become a global leader in S&T. The vishava (world) will be nirbhar (dependent) on Bharat (India):

Prof P N Tandon and Dr. Manju Sharma were felicitated with THSTI’s lifetime mentorship award in recognition of their exemplary mentorship and inspiring leadership.

The celebrations also marked distribution of awards for outstanding performance of faculty, scientists, PhD scholars and staff in their respective fields.