When:
13/08/2013 @ 5:28 pm – 6:03 pm
2013-08-13T17:28:00+05:30
2013-08-13T18:03:00+05:30
Where:
Acharya Hall
Amrita University
Amritapuri, Vallikavu, Kerala 690525
India

SrinivasPentyalaSrinivas Pentyala, Ph.D.
Director of Translational Research, Faculty member in Anesthesiology, Urology, Health Sciences, Physiology & Biophysics, Stony Brook Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY, USA


Translational Biotechnology in the development of Drugs, Diagnostics and Devices

Innovation can propel a simple finding in basic science to a concept that can be of immense value to society. While applying these novel innovations that came out by studying the basic mechanisms, an offshoot of applied branch emerged. This field which is now widely referred to as Translational Research utilizes basic science findings and translates these findings using biotech and nanotech principles into innovative concepts for the benefit of mankind. This branch of science has evolved into a multidisciplinary juggernaut encompassing all known fields of science, even including fields as varied as law, economics, sociology, etc. Scientists, who have a passion to commit themselves for the betterment of society, often limit themselves to perform bench research and dwell in the satisfaction of discovering new things. However, this sort of contribution is the nexus for advancement of science. Particularly the field of biotechnology is an area where intense research is being done to understand the physical as well as biological principles ranging from matter to mind.  With the ever increasing interest in this branch, and the dreams and aspirations that this field can bring, basic science researchers are now taking a bold step into this new realm, merging different fields of knowledge to come up with novel inventions. This approach though lucrative, needs discipline and a step-by-step systemic approach. Taking basic science discoveries related to diseases and symptoms from our research lab as examples and taking the approach of translational biotechnology, the whole concept of thinking outside the box and taking the next step from basic science to applied and translational sciences for improving the quality of life will be presented. Some of the translational projects that will be discussed are:

  1. How do studies on a simple calcium mobilizing enzyme help understand and cure diseases like Alzheimer’s?
  2. The drugs that were routinely given in operating rooms can behave like double edged swords to cure diseases like asthma.
  3. Using simple antigen – antibody technology, can a novel diagnostic and prognostic tool be discovered for cancer?
  4. Using the information garnered from the Human Genome project and utilizing the tools of bioinformatics can we develop novel new drugs?
  5. The concept of delivering drugs and how novel diagnostic tools can be developed to reduce mishaps.
  6. How do environmental toxins help us to understand complex biological processes like sleep and memory?
  7. How does biochemistry and bioinformatics help us to have clean drinking water?

The findings from the above projects will be used as examples and different mechanisms of translational research using biotech applications will be discussed.

Invited Talk: Translational Biotechnology in the development of Drugs, Diagnostics and Devices