Manipal: “Diarrheal disease is a burning problem in India with a high rate of morbidity and mortality,” said Professor Robert Hall, Programme Officer from National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland at the inauguration of the workshop on Gut microbiome 2016, jointly organized by the Enteric Diseases Division (EDD) and Department of Microbiology, KMC, Manipal at Chaithya Hall, FIVV here last week.

Over150 delegates from all over the country and abroad (Sweden, Antigua, Kuwait etc) took part in the conference, which had both international and national speakers as resource persons. The lectures were both interesting and informative. Professor Luisa Vieira Piexe (University of Porto, Portugal), Professor K. Okamoto (Okayama University, Japan), Dr. Ashish Mukhopadhyay (NICED, Kolkata) along with Dr. Pragna Rao , Associate Dean, KMC, Manipal, Dr. Mamatha Ballal (Organizing Chair – Gut Microbiome, 2016) and Dr. Kiran Chawla (Professor and Head of Microbiology, KMC, Manipal) were the speakers.

Prof Robert Hall, who was the chief guest for the inaugural function, was impressed with the knowledge and basic research skills of the students and research scholars of EDD and Manipal University and said that the advanced technology and knowledge base available at National Institute of Health, USA should be clubbed with Manipal University in controlling and managing diarrheal diseases. Being one of the judges for the poster session, Dr. Hall commented that all the research scholars and other participants presented their work with confidence and had a clear understanding of their scientific data. Professor Hall also promised a joint collaborative research venture between NIH, USA and the Enteric Diseases Division headed by Dr. Mamatha Ballal, in the near future.

Dr. Mamatha Ballal, Organizing Chair while interacting with the experts stated that with the work potential of the young brains in the field of gut infections at Manipal University, they are prepared to accept the challenges to strive for a better tomorrow, free of diarrheal diseases.