The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with the Sun Pharma Science Foundation (SPSF) organised a national symposium on ‘Pathogen Discovery and Management of Future Epidemics’. It hosted a range of national and international speakers from varied sectors to better understand how pandemic preparedness is possible from a scientific lens.
It is believed that many disease-causing viruses and micro-organisms are yet to be discovered. Sudden arrival of such diseases can have devastating consequences globally. The world has experienced such an event during Covid-19 pandemic. The discussions veered around three themes: Ecology and evolution, surveillance and outbreak investigation and response. The experts shared their thoughts on disease ecology, animal health, surveillance and vaccine preparedness, and the scientific approaches to understanding these challenges.
Earlier, the symposium was opened by Director ILS, Dr Debasis Dash.