Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with EpiPointe of North Carolina, USA to promote cooperation and accelerate research and training in ‘One Health’. This unique private-public partnership reinforces the importance of multi-sector networks and will serve as a “knowledge hub” to further explore zoonotic disease trends that affect animal populations and the humans in India.
Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice Chancellor, said that the university is delighted to collaborate with EpiPointe to enhance One Health research. We have a long history of conducting One Health education, training and research. This collaboration with EpiPointe will strengthen our global standing in One Health and lead to innovative solutions to tackle emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Falgunee Parekh, Principal Scientist of EpiPointe, visited from the USA to sign the MoU, said that it’s high time for EpiPointe to collaborate with GADVASU. She mentioned that EpiPointe is dedicated to improving global public health by developing innovative R&D approaches. EpiPointe offers decades-long expertise in design and implementation of epidemiologic and clinical research studies for diseases including Malaria, Zika, Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, Lassa Fever, and Vector-borne. This collaboration will enable joint use of our multi-sectoral expertise to implement One Health driven research in India.
Dr. Balbir Bagicha Singh Dhaliwal, Professor, College of Animal Biotechnology (CoABT) will serve as the lead investigator from GADVASU in the collaborative research efforts with EpiPointe. Dr. J.P.S. Gill, Director of Research, GADVASU mentioned that GADVASU has been working in collaboration with several national and international institutes to improve the health of livestock and farmers of Punjab, and is hopeful that projects under this MOU would act as models for the other states to adopt.
Dr. YPS Malik, Dean, COABT stated that this collaboration would help to determine the status of the prevalent zoonotic diseases and contribute data to policy development. Dr. HS Banga, Registrar, Dr. RS Sethi, ADR and Dr. Amarjit Singh, Comptroller, GADVASU congratulated the research scientists and conveyed their best wishes for this collaborative research endeavors.
Read more: https://www.gadvasu.in/news/detail/7803
