AMRTSAR: Department of Microbiology of Guru Nanak Dev University organized Sardar Jaswant Singh Rai Memorial Lecture held under the leadership of Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) Jaspal Singh Sandhu. This year the award was conferred on Prof. (Dr.) Gopal Nath, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.
The event commenced with the warm welcome of the dignitaries and the audience by Dr. Sukhraj Kaur, coordinator of the event, followed by lamp lightning ceremony. Thereafter, Prof. (Dr.) Vasudha Sambyal, Nodal officer, J. S. Rai Memorial Award, introduced the audience with the J. S. Rai Memorial trust, its mission, contributions and past recipients of this award. Two-minute silence was observed to pay homage to Late Prof. Karamjit Singh Rai, founder of J. S. Rai Memorial Trust, who recently passed away.
Dr. Amarjeet Kaur, Head of the Department of Microbiology gave a brief profile of the Department highlighting its achievements through the years. Dr. Sukhraj Kaur introduced the chief guest, Dr. Gopal Nath and briefly summarized his academic and research achievements. He is amongst the pioneers of clinical bacteriophage therapy in India. He is also the founder and secretary of the Society for Bacteriophage Research and Therapy.
Prof. (Dr.) Harvinder Singh Saini, Dean Life Sciences, presented the award to Dr. Gopal Nath that was followed by his expert talk on the topic ‘Clinical experiences of personalized phage therapy in India’.
He shared his personal experiences of using bacteriophage therapy in treating multidrug resistant clinical infections, one of the most challenging problem faced by the healthcare system. The event concluded with the Vote of Thanks by Dr. Rajesh Kumari Manhas.