SCTIMST exemplifies confluence of service, science and policy: Gagandeep Kang

The Hindu

10-05-2025

The Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) is unique for it has shown that the trifecta of service, science, and policy can come together for the country, microbiologist and virologist Gagandeep Kang has said.
She was speaking at the convocation of the 41st batch of the SCTIMST here on Saturday morning.
Dr. Kang, who is now Director of Enteric, Diagnostics, Genomics, and Epidemiology, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said India had taken the lead in making drugs and vaccines for the world, but that was not the case when it came to diagnostics and devices.
About 80% of the devices used in the country were being imported. The SCTIMST was the institute that had done the most to change this situation, but the challenge ahead was to make the industry and the country aware of the possibilities of development and evaluation that existed here. Often, the position was that after transfer of technology it was the industry's responsibility to utilise it. However, industries in the devices field in the country were small companies that would continue to need the support of institutions such as as the SCTIMST, government, and the policymakers so that they could scale up operations.
Dr. Kang also questioned why the scaling up seen in drugs and vaccines in the country was not seen in devices. 'I hope what you have here in translation and interdisciplinary collaborations will allow us to work towards this mission.'
On the role of the SCTIMST, she said the training that young graduands got here would give them the confidence to think about making a change and that is where innovation would come from.
She stressed the need for expertise, interdisciplinarity, and collaboration to pave the way for new developments.
Recognising the SCTIMST's strengths in empathy for the population it served and its strong ethics, Dr. Kang said, 'Empathy and ethics is the foundation on which we must build our future.'
Former Indian Space Research Organisation chairman S. Somanath who was the chief guest at the event stressed the need for collaboration between institutes such as SCTIMST and those working in the area of space technology, especially as the interest in space travel picks up. Some impacts of the space environment were well-known such as muscular atrophy, bone loss, or psychological issues, but the future offered much possibility in the domain of research on how to deal with long-term space travel, he said.
Govindan Rangarajan, director, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, delivered the eighth G. Parthasarathi Oration.
Kris Gopalakrishnan, president of SCTIMST, spoke. He also conferred degrees on the graduands on the occasion.