Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham hosted a two-day symposium, Amrita Research and Innovation Symposium for Excellence (ARISE), on May 18 and 19 at the Amrita Hospital premises in Kochi. The event aimed to assess research potential across various fields, focusing on societal issues and engaging researchers and educators in finding innovative solutions.

Dr. Maneesha V. Ramesh, Provost of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, inaugurated the symposium, emphasizing its goal to address and solve societal challenges. “ARISE is a platform to bring together brilliant minds to collaborate on schemes and plans that empower society and drive sustainable development through artificial intelligence.” she said.

Dr. Prem Nair, Group Medical Director, Amrita Hospitals, presided over the inaugural function. The event was graced by prominent figures such as Dr. Harsha Bhargavi, Assistant Director of the Union Ministry of Culture; Prof. K. P. Sudheer, Principal Secretary of the State Department of Science and Technology; and Dr. P. Murali Krishna, Senior Scientist at the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory.

Around 300 researchers and teachers from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham participated in the symposium. Key participants included Dr. K. P. Girish Kumar, Principal of Amrita Medical College and Deans Dr. D. M. Vasudevan, Dr. Shanti Kumar Nair and Dr. U. Krishnakumar.

The symposium featured a variety of insightful sessions and discussions. One notable session was “Statistical Inference in Signal Processing,” presented by Dr. P. Murali Krishna, Senior Scientist, NPOL (DRDO), Kochi, Kerala, from the School of Computing and the School of Physical Sciences. Another significant session, “Navigating Research Projects: Drafting Winning Proposals,” was led by Dr. Hareesh N Ramanathan, Director, International Relations (IRAA), Cochin University of Science and Technology and represented the School of Arts, Humanities, and Commerce.

In the afternoon, the Grand Challenge Round explored “Holistic Practices on Community Engagement and Empowerment,” with contributions from Dr. Ashok Balasundaram, IAS, Agricultural Production Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Govt. of Kerala and Dr. Sreedharan N V, Professor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. This session was moderated by Dr. U. Krishnakumar and Dr. P. Balasubramanian. Another Grand Challenge session addressed “Management Practices Supporting Sustainability,” featuring Dr. P. K. Viswanathan, Principal, ASB, Amritapuri, and moderated by Dr. Sandhya G and Dr. Rejikumar G from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.

The theme “AI for Social Good” was also a focal point, with Dr. M. Sethumadhavan, Director, TIFAC CORE in Cyber Security at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and Dr. Sudip Kumar Batabyal, Chairperson, Department of Physics, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, sharing their expertise. This session was moderated by Dr. Vimina E R, Dr. Maya L Pal and Dr. Sangeetha J from the Kochi campus.

The second day focused on health-related research, engaging all faculty members, postgraduate students, and research staff. The sessions included an opening discussion on “Why Should We Be Doing Research in a Medical Institution?” moderated by Dr. Krishna Kumar, with perspectives from Dr. Hisham Ahamed (Cardiology), Dr. Sheela Nampoothiri (Genetics), Dr. Chandrashekar J (Dentistry) and Dr. Vivek Nambiar (Stroke Medicine-Neurology). Dr. Prabhakaran provided expert commentary.

A comprehensive report on research accomplishments at Amrita Hospital, Kochi was presented by Dr. Priya Nair and Dr. Sabarish, highlighting specific examples such as infection control and antimicrobial resistance research led by Sanjeev Singh, Bipin Nair, and Merlin Moni, and the Biract Project in Ophthalmology by Dr. Gopal Pillai. Further presentations included contributions from Dr. Neeraj Siddharthan on oncology, Dr. Krishna Kumar on pediatric cardiac sciences and Dr. Shanti Kumaran Nair on translational research in nano sciences and molecular medicine.

Looking ahead, the future direction of research was discussed, including the inauguration and demonstration of the AIMS health sciences research website by Jaideep Menon and Sabarish. Quest lectures by Dr. Tessy Thomas on multidisciplinary research in India and Dr. D Prabhakaran on sustaining high-quality research in Indian medical institutions provided valuable insights. Dr. D M Vasudevan outlined a roadmap for research at Amrita Hospital, Kochi.