Archive by category | Health

Genetic sequencing tools key to pandemic fight

Genetic sequencing tools key to pandemic fight

[Shankar Balasubramanian is a Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, a Senior Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He won the one million euro prize jointly with David Klenerman.]  … Read more

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #3

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #3

“Newly married couple Avishek Bachhar (25) and Puspa Jana (22) leave the Siddeshwari temple in north Kolkata after seeking the goddess’s blessings. They tied the knot with only a handful of relatives due to strict restrictions on assembly of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Marriages in India are generally grand events with hundreds of people participating. Despite the measures, West Bengal recorded over 5.5 lakh cases of infection and 9712 deaths in 2020.” — Partha Paul  … Read more

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #2

Nature India Photo Contest 2020: Finalist #2

“The annual Durga Puja festivities end with the immersion of the gods’ idols in river Hooghly, a tributary of the Ganges. Every year thousands of people take part in the idol immersion processions. Following COVID-19 restrictions, the West Bengal government created temporary water bodies to ‘immerse’ the clay-made idols by dissolving them with high power water jets, like in this picture taken at the Tridhara Sanmilani Puja Pandal, Kolkata on 26 October 2020. The benefits were two-fold – no processions, and no pollution of the Ganges’ waters.” — Amitava Chandra  … Read more

A conscience-stirring pandemic

A conscience-stirring pandemic

Another ‘ahead of print’ issue was out. I was anxiously scanning it for my article. There it was! The next obvious thing to do would be to announce this exciting news on all possible social media channels, ‘humbly’ displaying my scientific and literary skills, proud of my name leading the decorated list of authors.  Read more

NI Special Issue on COVID-19 Engineering Solutions is out

NI Special Issue on COVID-19 Engineering Solutions is out

Very early on it became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was not just a challenge for scientists and medical professionals. Almost a year into the coronavirus’s rampage across the world, there’s no doubt about the long-term impact that SARS-CoV-2 will continue to have on every facet of human life — from healthcare to education, social interaction, businesses, environmental concerns, and political processes.  Read more

Why mental health discourse must transcend the pandemic

Why mental health discourse must transcend the pandemic

Being a psychiatrist, I have been overwhelmed with the explosion of data, discussion and debate on mental health even before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by WHO in March 2020. Surprisingly, a virus has suddenly helped peak interest in an aspect of public health that has long been overshadowed in our societies by stigma and neglect.  Read more