BIOSPARK’21 Intercollege Competitions – April 9, 2021
The student-centric activity of the Department of Biochemistry academic fest, Biospark has always been a major attraction to all the undergrad students. On 9th April, 2021, the Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, concluded its second edition of Biospark’21 with a webinar as well as student presentations and result announcement of the competitions which started a week earlier. The webinar hosted Dr. N. Latha, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Coordinator, Bioinformatics Center, Sri Venkateshwara College, who apprised the students about “Learning Biology through the lens of Bioinformatics”. With her vast knowledge in the field of bio-informatics, she was able to engage the students in a discussion of various databases and online tools available to study and compare the genomes. She guided and encouraged the students towards pursuing a fruitful career in an area of their interest as well as expertise, which helped in clearing dogmas and doubts of the young minds.
The department invited the participation of undergrad science students in two inter-college competitions, namely INNOSPARK and CELL DIALOGUETOON on March 23, 2021, wherein more than twenty entries were received in each category by April 6, 2021. 11 best entries, which qualified for the second round were given a chance to present their idea during the Biospark event on April 9, 2021 in virtual mode. Innospark focussed on presentation of an innovative idea by students in an effective and time bound manner through power point presentation. This event was adjudged by Dr. Kamal Kumar Gupta, Department of Zoology, Dr. Kamana Singh and Dr. Vanshika Lumb, Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College. In Cell Dialoguetoon, students had the opportunity to showcase their creative side by drawing a dialogue between biological entities, depicting any biological phenomenon. The entries were screened and adjudged by Dr. Dharmendra Mallick, Department of Botany, Dr. Rajni Jain and Dr. Vineeta Kashyap, Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College. All the submitted cartoons were extremely interesting as well as attractive. Cash prizes for the three best teams were announced for both INNOSPARK and CELL DIALOGUETOON, while the fourth best entry was given a certificate of special merit.
The Department of Biochemistry took this initiative in association with IQAC, Deshbandhu College, under the aegis of DBT STAR College Scheme. The event was held under the convenorship of Dr. Preeti Karwal, Teacher-in-Charge, Department of Biochemistry, co-convenorship of Dr. Prabha Arya. The organising committee, comprised of faculty members of the department, namely Dr. Vanshika Lumb (Organising Secretary), Dr. Kamana Singh, Dr. Rajni Jain, Dr. Vineeta Kashyap and Dr. Astha Giri, and deserves credit for the successful event. Wholehearted support and guidance by our Principal, Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal is always cherished and respected by the Department of Biochemistry.
BIOSPARK 2021: International Webinar on "RARE DISEASES: RARE INSIGHTS INTO THE RESEARCH, CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS"
The Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College inaugurated its Academic Festival – Biospark ‘2021 with a webinar on Rare Diseases: Rare Insights into the Research, Challenges and Concerns, on 29th March, 2021. This webinar, under the International Webinar Series started by the department in 2020, hosted two eminent speakers, Dr. Vinod Scaria, Sr. Scientist IGIB and Dr. Swati Kunduri, Medical Science Liaison, Chiesi Global Rare Disease, Inc, Ohio, USA.
Dr. Scaria piqued the interest of the audience with his talk on Personal Genomes to Populations- Experience from India, wherein, he provided an insight into the opportunities that India presents for genetic studies owing to the close-knit family structure as well as the diversity across our nation. He also emphasized on the need for creating an ecosystem for clinical genomics in our country. On the other hand, Dr. Swati Kunduri talked about the medical, emotional and social challenges faced by the family and the patients of rare diseases. Her topic of the presentation was “Rare Diseases: The Zebra among the Horses” and she was able to inspire the young minds with her passion for this field has faced such challenges of her own.
This webinar aimed to open our perspectives towards the lesser-known diseases, which are somewhere left behind in terms of research focus and attention by pharma companies but definitely affect the patients and their families in a major and detrimental manner. The webinar was successful in educating and sensitizing the students as well faculty members towards the scientific and social challenges which envelope the rare diseases.
The event could be brought to fruition under the convenorship of Dr. Preeti Karwal, Teacher-in-charge, Department of Biochemistry and co-convenorship of Dr. Vineeta Kashyap with the assistance of the organising secretary, Dr. Vanshika Lumb and the organising committee comprising of Dr. Kamana Singh, Dr. Rajni Jain, Dr. Prabha Arya and Dr. Astha Giri. The third year students of the department, namely Chetan Sharma, Syed Mohd Anas and Akreti Tandon gave their best efforts in organizing and presenting this event. This event of Biospark, 2021 was conducted under the aegis of DBT STAR College Scheme, coordinated by Dr. Indrakant Singh, in association with the IQAC, Deshbandhu College, coordinated by Dr. Aditya Saxena. Any effort by the department is wholeheartedly supported and channelized by our head of the institution, Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal, Principal, Deshbandhu College and we are grateful for his support and encouragement.
BIOSPARK 2020-2021: INTERNATIONAL WEBINAR LECTURE SERIES
3. PART III
The curtains on academic festival of the Department of Biochemistry, Biospark 2020, were drawn with the third and final student-centric “Hands on Training Session in Scientific Writing” being organized on 12th November, 2020. This International Webinar Series, which started on 17th Oct, 2020 hosted speakers of notable repute from both national and international shores. This time, emphasizing on the dire need of effectively communicating science, Dr. Mythily Ganapathi, (Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology, Assistant Director of Cytogenetics and Personalized Genomic Medicine Laboratories, Columbia University Irving Medical Centre, New York, USA) conducted an Interactive Session on “Scientific Communication and Writing”. The webinar was preceded by a preparatory online assignment, which was meticulously prepared by the respected resource person, Dr. Mythily. The responses were analyzed by her prior to the event and then discussed during the interactive session in webinar. This lecture cum exercise based learning was able to make the students not only realize the importance and practical aspects of effective as well as interesting communication of science but also how it can be pursued as a career. The students greatly benefited from this interactive session as was evident from the detailed discussion of various aspects of scientific writing like abstract formation, poster presentation and SOP writing to name a few. The webinar saw an overwhelming participation of faculty members and students from various colleges and universities across the country. The event was graced by the presence of very senior and accomplished professors like Prof. Vani Brahmachari, former professor, ACBR (DU), Dr. Samir Brahmachari, former DG-CSIR and Dr. Alo Nag, Head of Department, Department of Biochemistry, UDSC.
The initiative of the International Webinar Lecture Series was taken by the Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, in association with IQAC under the aegis of DBT STAR College Scheme. The purpose of the event was successfully accomplished under the convenorship of Dr. Preeti Karwal, Teacher-in-Charge, Department of Biochemistry and co-convenorship of Dr. Kamana Singh, other faculty members of the department and wholehearted support and guidance by our Principal, Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal.
BIOSPARK 2020-2021: INTERNATIONAL WEBINAR LECTURE SERIES
2. PART 2
The second event of International Webinar Series organised by the Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, as a part of the Departmental Academic Festival- BIOSPARK- 2020, was held on 29th Oct, 2020. The webinar was organized within a short span of 15 days from the previous one and witnessed greater participation and enthusiasm. While the theme of the previous program was “Cancer Diagnosis”, this time, the department organized the webinar on another pertinent theme: “Understanding Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Strategies for Neurological Disorders”. The webinar hosted two eminent speakers from the field of biological sciences, whose research have enhanced our understanding regarding neurological disorders and their possible treatments.
The first speaker of the event was the very reputed Dr. Bishwajit Kundu, Professor, Kusuma School of Biological Sciences and Associate Dean (SE), Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. He presented his work on “Structural Clues of Finding Anti-Neuropathic Biomolecules”. In a very lucid and interesting manner, Dr. Kundu was able to sensitize his audience regarding amyloid fibres, their role in neuro-degenerative diseases and their possible treatment by natural products like curcumin. The second talk of the day was delivered by our international guest, Dr. Amar Nath Kar, Research Assistant Professor in Neurosciences, Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA. In his talk he focussed on “Intra- Axonal Mechanisms in Neurodegenration”. He elaborated on his research work where he showed the use of a peptide G3BP1, ubiquitously present in our body, to check neurodegeneration caused by A-beta and stress. Both the lectures were able to pique the interest of the audience as was evident from the numerous questions and discussions which followed their talks.
The webinar saw an overwhelming participation of over 100 faculty members and student from various colleges and universities across the country. While we were able to reconnect with our superannuated faculty members and old students, the webinar also acted as a platform to welcome the new students admitted to the department for the session 2020-2023. The Department of Biochemistry is delighted to have taken this initiative under the aegis of IQAC, Deshbandhu College, in association with DBT STAR College Scheme. The event was held under the convenorship of Dr. Preeti Karwal, Teacher-in-Charge, Department of Biochemistry; co-convenorship of Dr. Rajni Jain; Senior faculty member of the department and wholehearted support and guidance by our Principal, Dr. Rajiv Aggarwal.
BIOSPARK 2020-2021: INTERNATIONAL WEBINAR LECTURE SERIES
PART I
The Department of Biochemistry, Deshbandhu College, on the occasion of their Departmental Academic Festival, BIOSPARK- 2020, inaugurated an ‘International Webinar Lecture Series’ on 17th October, 2020. The event was organized in association with IQAC, Deshbandhu College under the aegis of DBT STAR College Scheme. Being held in the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’, the theme for the event was “Non-invasive Cancer Diagnosis and Prognosis”. The webinar hosted two speakers related to the field of cancer biology with years of research experience in the field of oncology.
Our first speaker for the lecture series was Dr. Aklank Jain, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Zoology, Central University of Panjab, Bhatinda. He delivered a talk on “Circulating miRNAs as Biomarkers for Cancer. His presentation focused on the use of circulating miRNAs to ascertain clinicopathological features of cancer patients. Through his talk he was able to intrigue the students and participating faculty towards this approach of diagnosing and tracking the progress of cancer.
Our second speaker for the webinar was Dr. Azeet Narayan, Associate Research Scientist in Therapeutic Radiology, Yale School of Medicine, Connecticut, USA. He abridged the participants on the topic, “Circulating Tumor DNA in the Blood: Challenges and Opportunities as a Cancer Biomarker”. His talk sensitized the participants towards a unique method of diagnosing cancer, especially relevant in patients who were undergoing immuno-therapy for this debilitating disease. He elaborated on his work on circulating tumor DNA based liquid biopsy and discussed its importance in dynamic monitoring of residual cancer, cancer relapse, mutation status in tumors, efficiency of medication as well as early detection.