About symposium
The world has undergone a tremendous transition from the pleasant and peaceful natural aesthetics to a crowded and polluted biosphere over decades, the outcome of which is the emergence of new diseases. From the discovery of antibiotics to vaccines and now to the development of customized drug therapy, explains the advancements of medical science. The modern era of medicine focuses on an individual specific outlook for health care. Theranostics is the brain child of this approach which utilizes genetic data from patients for diagnosing abnormalities and predicting specific therapy. This amalgamation of therapeutics and diagnostics was tailor made by incorporating the principles of diverse branches of biosciences like pharmacogenetics, genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, biostatistics, biomarker profiling, nutrigenomics and nanoscience. Theranostics thus becomes a revolutionizing solution for target specific approach therapy rather than the conventional ‘hit and trial’ mode of treatment. The genomic and proteomic profile unravels the drug metabolism pattern in patients which would thus serve as the backbone for the concept of personalized medicines. This explains the exact meaning of the term cost effective treatment wherein therapy would be more predictive and preventive. The involvement of molecular techniques and advent of sequencing has enabled pre-diagnosis of diseases thereby facilitating adoption of a healthy lifestyle. Theranostics has thus changed the vision of the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical world from ‘health care for mankind’ to ‘personalized health care’. In this symposium, progress made in different fields of biomedical sciences towards theranostic approaches will be discussed.
About National University of Singapore (NUS)
The National University of Singapore (NUS) has grown phenomenally from its humble infancy as a small medical school founded in 1905. NUS is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered NUS has turned into a global university with an entrepreneurial dimension, boasting distinctive strengths in education and research. With a diverse array of programmes and activities aimed at developing quality of mind, strength of character and global perspectives, students are able to shape their own NUS experience and grow. NUS offers a broad spectrum of globally-oriented curricula and programmes such as joint and double degree programmes with leading partner universities around the world, as well as its own flagship programmes. With students from over 100 countries in NUS, you have every opportunity to meet peers from different nationalities, learn and appreciate different cultures, as well as develop international friendship, all within the campus. Standing as the foremost and most prestigious university in Singapore, and ranked consistently amongst the top 50 universities in the world, NUS strives to be a powerhouse of technology and innovation that creates new knowledge, ideas and breakthroughs. NUS is ranked as Asia's top university in both the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2016. According to the latest 2016 QS World University Rankings, NUS is placed 12th in the world and 1st in Asia.
About VIT University
VIT University was founded in 1984 as Vellore Engineering College by the Chancellor Dr. G. Viswanathan. From its humble beginning, the institution has grown exponentially to that of having more than 33,000 students. Students from all the states of India and from more than 50 countries are studying at VIT. University status was conferred in 2001 by MHRD Govt. of India in recognition of its excellence in academics, research and extracurricular initiatives. Currently, VIT has 4 campuses – in Vellore, Chennai, Amaravati (AP) and Bhopal (MP). The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the MHRD, Government of India, has identified VIT as the best Private Engineering Institution in India in the year 2016 and in 2017. VIT has gone for accreditation by NAAC [India], IET [UK], and ABET [USA] and follows world class academic processes. VIT is the first and only University in India to get 4 star rating from QS, the world universities ranking organization. The Industry consortium FICCI, has declared VIT as the “University of the Year 2016”, in India. VIT has also been ranked in the top 201-250 in QS BRICS Ranking in 2016 and in the top 251-300 in Times Higher Education (THE), Asia Ranking.
School of Bio Science & Technology, VIT University
The School of Bio Sciences and Technology offers undergraduate, post graduate and doctoral courses in the fields of Biotechnology, Biomedical Genetics, Applied Microbiology and Bioinformatics. The School consists of 4 departmentsBiotechnology, Biomedical Sciences, Biosciences and Integrative Biology headed by experienced professors. Our efforts are strengthened by collaboration with National and International institutes and multinational companies, as well as with visiting scientists. Healthy interaction between academia and biotech industry is consistently promoted in the School. The school houses excellent infrastructure and well trained faculty members which makes it to be one among the largest population of trained biologists in our country. The school is equipped with cutting edge technologies and instruments like SEM, HPLC, FPLC, qRT-PCR, various bioinformatics tools and softwares.