Nitte receives grant from ICMR for Covid research

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sanctioned a major grant for Covid-19 research to Nitte (Deemed to be University).

Among the 2,877 proposals on Covid research, 86 recipients including Nitte received the grant. The research proposal is a collaborative effort between basic molecular scientists and clinicians at Nitte University. Dr Anirban Chakraborty, Director of Nitte University Centre for Science Education and Research (NUCSER), will lead the project as principal investigator.

Prof Dr Rathika Shenoy, Head, Department of Paediatrics, KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Dr Giridhar B H, Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, KSHEMA and Dr Gunimala Chakraborty, Associate Professor, NUCSER, are the other co-investigators in this project.

“Our focus is to identify changes in genes that code for important proteins responsible for attachment and entry of SARS-Cov2 into host cells and to see whether these changes associate with the susceptibility and severity of Covid-19 in patients," said Prof Chakraborty.

We will carry out functional studies in the zebrafish model system to determine if these changes play any role in modulating the immune response of the host,” he added.