Exclusive insights: S20 Webinar on An Integrated Approach to Combat Neo-Infections

The Department of Pharmaceuticals in partnership with the Indian National Science Academy organized a S20 Webinar on “An Integrated Approach to Combat Neo-Infections: A Way Forward, through Vaccines, Diagnostics and Therapeutics”. The webinar focused on discussing the need for collaborative models to strengthen and support research and development (R&D) in Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics (VTDs) to combat emerging disease threats and increase healthy life expectancy.

Key Points

1. The Department of Pharmaceuticals and Indian National Science Academy organized a webinar on combating neo-infections through vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.
2. The Science 20 (S20) engagement group has planned various webinars and workshops during the G20 Presidency of India, focusing on disruptive science for sustainable development.
3. The sustainable development goal includes increasing the healthy life expectancy of all humans while promoting well-being across the entire life course.
4. The S20 webinar focused on discussing a need for collaborative models to strengthen and support research and development in vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.
5. The webinar featured eminent speakers across the G-20 countries, including Australia, US, UK, Canada, South Africa, European Union, Brazil, and Indonesia.
6. The creation of a global R&D network is necessary to fight future pandemics, and a roadmap must be designed to identify priority areas for collaboration and strengthen cooperation and partnerships among G-20 countries.
7. The role of S20 is to further the agenda of G20, where science plays a key role in achieving economic growth, pulling millions of people out of poverty, and ensuring that development is inclusive and sustainable.
8. The webinar featured sessions on therapeutics, vaccines, and diagnostics, with notable speakers from across the G-20 countries.
9. The panel discussion included a fireside chat on the need for global collaboration in developing sustainable practices to enhance cumulative global health standards.

1. Introduction The Department of Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with the Indian National Science Academy organized a S20 Webinar on “An Integrated Approach to Combat Neo-Infections: A Way Forward, through Vaccines, Diagnostics and Therapeutics.” This event is a part of the G20 Indian Presidency and is aligned with the need for collaboration in vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics.

2. S20 Engagement Group During the G20 Presidency of India, the Science 20 (S20) engagement group planned webinars and workshops on topics of current interest. The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is coordinating the S20 activities under the overarching theme, “Disruptive Science for Sustainable Development” with three subthemes focusing on “Clean Energy for Greener Future,” “Universal Holistic Health,” and “Science for Society & Culture.”

3. Collaborative models for research and development The S20 webinar emphasized the need for collaborative models that would help to strengthen and support research and development (R&D) in vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics (VTDs). The aim is to create awareness among various stakeholders about disease agonistic platforms for new drug development and develop cost-effective therapeutics for priority pathogens. This could be done through a network of R&D institutions across G20 countries that would function in tandem in a sustainable manner and contribute to collective preparedness for thwarting future pandemics.

4. Role of speakers The webinar featured notable eminent speakers across the G-20 counties. The therapeutics session was moderated by Dr. Girish Sahni and involved speakers like Prof. Nicola Mulder, Dr. Vishal Singh, and Dr. Ahmed Aman. The vaccines session was moderated by Dr. Pramod Kumar Garg and involved Mr. Sourabh Sobti, Prof. Nikolai Petrovsky, and Dr. Marco Aurélio Krieger as eminent speakers. Finally, the diagnostics session was moderated by Dr. Anup Anvikar, involving Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Dr. Vinay K. Nandicoori, and Dr. Sara Frojdo as speakers.

5. The panel discussion A panel discussion for fireside chat was held following the speaker sessions. The participants discussed the need to design a roadmap by identifying and setting up priority areas for collaboration, strengthening cooperation and partnership among G-20 countries in the arena of early-stage research on vaccines therapeutics and diagnostics for coordinated approaches in fighting emerging disease threats and capacity building in medical countermeasures with the vision of strengthening the global health architecture “One Earth, One Health, One Future.”

Thank you for joining us for the S20 Webinar on An Integrated Approach to Combat Neo-Infections. Let’s work together to strengthen research collaboration in VTDs and prepare for future pandemics. Don’t forget to subscribe and follow us for updates on future events.