Bangalore 2nd Cohort – IMPACT 2025, 3-days hands-on training workshop for VRDL personnel
The 2nd cohort training workshop IMPACT 2025 (Integrated Monitoring of Pathogen and AMR from Clinical WasTewater), jointly organized by Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was successfully conducted from May 12–14, 2025, at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, with NCBS and APSI as knowledge partners.
This advanced 3-day hands-on workshop brought together Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) staff across the country to build capacity for pathogen and antimicrobial resistance (#AMR) monitoring through clinical wastewater — a critical step in advancing #publichealth surveillance under the #OneHealth framework.
📍Key highlights:
- Inaugural talks by Dr. Rakesh Mishra (Director, TIGS), Dr. Anoop Velayudhan, Scientist E (Medical) ICMR Headquarters, emphasizing the importance of wastewater surveillance in tackling AMR and emerging infectious diseases, followed by a round of introductions for all the participants and organizers.
- An insightful session by Dr. Shivranjani Moharir, TIGS on the scope of AMR surveillance through wastewater, highlighting the need for spatiotemporal monitoring and data-driven action plans.
- Field visit to the Jakkur Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), demonstrating best practices for wastewater sample collection and inactivation, followed by hands-on training on nucleic acid extraction and qPCR assay protocols.
- Lab tours including BSL-2, Insectary, and Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) facilities.
- Strategic discussions with Dr. Rakesh Mishra on May 12, evening brainstorming the various questions that come across the VRDLs and how they can be addressed, to foster long-term collaborations.
- The workshop concluded with a session on scaling up clinical wastewater surveillance across VRDLs, led by Dr. Siddharth Bhatia, and interactive engagement activities and learning-reinforcement led by Dr. Sufia Sadaf (Ph.D.).
Together, we are laying the groundwork for a robust, nationwide AMR surveillance network rooted in environmental monitoring. A heartfelt thanks to ICMR for their continued support and funding ✨
