Department of Dairy Microbiology, College of Dairy Science and Technology, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University organized International e-Symposium on Probiotics, Prebiotics & Gut Microbiome: Key Regulators for Human & Animal Health on 11th November 2021. The event was organized under the aegis of Probiotic Association of India (PAi) and under banner of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav: Celebrating 75 years of India’s Independence.
The event was conducted under leadership of Dr Inderjeet Singh, worthy Vice Chancellor, GADVASU, and Dr A K Srivastava,
Member Secreatry, ASRB, and President, Probiotic Association of India. Dr JPS Gill, Director of Research; Dr HS Banga, Registrar; and Dr SK Uppal, Dean PGS were the co-Patrons. The core team members included Convener- Dr Ramneek, Dean, College of Dairy Science and Technology; Coordinator- Dr Sandeep Sodhi, Head, Department of Dairy Microbiology; Organizing Secretary – Dr Harsh Panwar; Co-organizing Secretaries – Dr Santosh Mishra and Dr Namita Rokana; Joint Secretary – Dr Sunil Kumar and Dr Manvesh Sihag; Technical Secretaries – Dr Narendra Chandla and Dr Nitin Wakchaure.
The event commenced with the welcome note by Dr Harsh Panwar, Organizing Secreatry, who briefed the virtual gathering about the one day international event, followed by the National Anthem by the students of College of Dairy Science and Technology. Dr Ramneek, Dean College of Dairy Science and Technology formally welcomed the chief guest, dignitaries, speakers, and participants. Dr Inderjeet Singh, worthy Vice Chancellor, GADVASU gave the presidential address and congratulated the organizing committee for organizing the event having high significance and impact with a One Health Approach. The inaugural lecture was delivered by the Chief Guest Dr A K Srivastava. He appraised the audience about the past, present and future of probiotic, prebiotic and gut microbiome research at international level and gave new directions to all the stakeholders, keeping in mind the challenges at academic and industrial front.
A total of 11 keynote and lead talks were divided into four technical sessions. National and International Keynote Speakers talks included
Dr. Sin Hyeog Im, POSTECH & ImmunoBiome Inc., Korea, Current Status and Prospects of Microbiome Therapeutics
Dr. Neerja Hajela, Yakult-Danone, India, The Growing burden of Antibiotic Resistance – Could Probiotics be one of the Solution?
Dr. Bruno Pot, Science Director, Yakult Europe, Old’ versus ‘New’ probiotics: the importance of strain, host and product!
Dr. Lorenzo Morelli, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Italy, From Probiotics to Something Biotics: Opportunists and threats for thefuture
Dr. Colin Hill, University College, Cork, Ireland, The relationship between probiotics and the microbiome
Juergen Schrezenmeir, Clinical Research Center Kiel, Germany, Probiotics in the metabolic syndrome – effects and mechanisms
Dr. Koen Venema, Maastricht University, Netherlands, Challenges for prebiotic efficacy – do we need personalized approaches?”
Dr. Dan Merenstein, Georgetown University, USA, What do you need to know to prescribe in your practice with confidence
Dr. Marie Lewis, University of Reading, UK, Early-life intervention with pre- and probiotics: Is a stratified approach required?
Dr. Michael L Chikindas, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA, Spore forming probiotics for poultry
Dr. Stewart Graham, Oakland University, USA, Gut dysbiosis, bile acids and Parkinson’s disease
The technical and young scientist sessions were chaired and co-chaired by researchers of eminence including Padambhushan Dr N K Ganguli, Ex-DG, ICMR; Dr. Suman Dhanda, Professor, Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra; Dr JB Prajapati, AAU, Gujarat; Dr Lewis Iheanacho Ezeogu, University of Nigeria, Nigeria; Dr Rama Chaudhary, AIIMS, New Delhi; Dr. S. K. Tomar, Ex-Principal Scientist, ICAR-NDRI; Dr JS Virdi, Delhi University, New Delhi; and Dr SG Prapulla, CFTRI, Mysuru. Rapporteurs for different sessions included Dr Seema Sangwan, Dr Vaibhao Lule, Dr. Namita Rokana, Dr S K Mishra, Dr. K. Siddharth Singh, Dr. Prasad Patil, Dr. Keshani Bhushan, Dr Manvesh K Sihag, Dr. FMF Elshaghabee, Dr. Aparna Sudhakran V, Dr. Priti Mudgil, Dr. Jaspreet Kaur, Dr. Divas Pradhan, Dr. Sachin Gulati, and Dr. Tejinder Pal Singh.
Young researchers presented their work under e-poster and young scientist award categories. An innovative category of award: Artistic Interpretation Category invited self designed artistic interpretation in conference theme areas and received enthusiastic response from school, UG and PG students. All the award candidatures were adjudged by the national and international judge panel and were awarded in the valedictory session by the Chief Guest Dr Rameshwar Singh, Worthy Vice Chancellor, Bihar Animal Sciences University (BASU), Bihar. Dr Singh acknowledged the efforts of organizing committee and congratulated all the awardees and participants. Dr Sandeep Sodhi Kakkar, Head, Dairy Microbiology gave concluding remarks and congratulated the organizers for successful e-Symposium which will open up new opportunities for probiotic research with international collaboration. Dr Harsh Panwar, Organizing Secreatry presented the Vote of Thanks. A total of 251 participants from around 15 countries enthusiastically participated in the event and gained from the rich experience of global speakers of repute.
