Three-day international meet on virology, public health held in Pune

Pune: A three-day international conference on virology and public health, VIROCON 2025, was held in the city between Dec 8 and 10.It was hosted by the Indian Council of Medical Research – National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV), Pune, in collaboration with the NIV Research Foundation and the Indian Virological Society (IVS).The conference was themed Changing Landscapes in Human, Animal and Plant Viruses: Bridging Basic Science, Innovation and Public Health. It focused on emerging viral threats, advances in virological research and pandemic preparedness. Scientific discussions were organised across three major tracks — one health and pandemic preparedness, development of countermeasures and fundamental virology.

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ICMR director general and secretary, department of health research, Dr Rajiv Bahl inaugurated the event and highlighted the importance of a one health approach and the need to strengthen countermeasures for future pandemics.Over 650 delegates, including scientists, clinicians, public health experts, industry representatives and students, participated in the conference. The event saw representation from four countries — India, the US, Canada and Thailand — along with participants from institutions such as IISc, IISERs, IITs, central universities, ICAR, ICMR, DRDO, DBT, CSIR and several state universities.Prestigious recognitions, including the IVS Oration Awards 2025 and IVS Young Scientist Awards were presented along with VIROCON 2025 oral and poster awards. The inaugural Keshvi Sharma Memorial Award from NIV research foundation was conferred on Dr. Shashank Tripathi of IISc Bengaluru.VIROCON 2025 concluded with discussions on strengthening collaboration and advancing research to improve public health preparedness, organisers said.

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