The CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, on Monday celebrated its 85th Foundation Day with great enthusiasm, marking more than eight decades of scientific contribution and national impact. The event brought together senior scientists, dignitaries, and researchers to reflect on the institute’s journey and its expanding influence in integrative medicine, natural product research, and innovation.

Dr. Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Former Director of CSIR-CFTRI Mysuru, graced the occasion as Chief Guest and delivered a compelling Foundation Day lecture on “Hidden medicines in your food.” She emphasized the global relevance of functional foods, nutraceuticals, and traditional Indian dietary wisdom. Stressing the need for scientific validation of indigenous knowledge, she said quality standards in food and nutraceuticals must be prioritized. She also advocated stronger collaboration between CSIR laboratories and industries to maximize expertise, resources, and impact. Guest of Honour Dr. Kannan Srinivasan, Director CSIR-CSMCRI Bhavnagar, lauded IIIM’s excellent student-scientist ratio and its robust translational research ecosystem. He highlighted the critical role of the institute’s pilot-scale facilities in helping innovations cross the challenging “valley of death”-the stage between laboratory research and commercialization. He urged researchers to leverage emerging opportunities created through ICMR-supported clinical trials.

Presiding over the function, Director CSIR-IIIM Jammu, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, described the 85th Foundation Day as a moment of immense pride. Tracing the institute’s evolution from the Drug Research Laboratory of J&K (1941) to RRL (1957) and finally IIIM (2007), he paid tribute to former directors and the legendary Col. Sir Ram Nath Chopra, known as the father of Indian pharmacology. Dr. Ahmed noted that more than 1,000 students from schools, colleges, and universities visited IIIM’s Jammu, Srinagar, and satellite centres today, reflecting the institute’s commitment to inspiring young minds and connecting science with society. He listed several key achievements over the past year, including large-scale training of women under the Atal Incubation Centre, the e-tractor campaign launched by CSIR-CMERI, and the National Startup Festival that brought together over 75 startups. Highlights also included the Lavender Festival, floriculture conclaves, and major strides in traditional medicine standardisation, skill development, and incubation support. IIIM now runs four incubation centres and has supported more than 125 startups, with 12 already launching market-ready products. The institute also received the Bharat Incubator Award and national recognition for the CSIR Aroma Mission team.

On the occasion, IIIM inked two new industry partnerships by signing CDAs with Hapico and Medispace Innovations. The institute also marked the filing of 14 patents-10 foreign and four Indian. Several scientists and technical staff members were felicitated for outstanding contributions across drug testing, fermentation, aroma mission, GLP initiatives, and technology incubation. On the occasion the S&T staff members were also awarded with appreciation certificates for the impactful work done by them during the preceding year. Dr. Mahendra Kumar Verma, Senior Technical Officer, felicitated for Drug Testing Laboratory, Dr. Asha Chaubey, Chief Scientist and her team for Fermentation Pilot Plant, Dr. Suphla Gupta, Senior Principal Scientist and her team for CSIR Aroma Mission, Dr. Shashank Kumar Singh, Chief Scientist and his team for submission of GLP application and Dr. Saurabh Saran, Senior Principal Scientist and his team for Technology Business Incubator (TBI).

Besides this, scientists who filled patents in Abroad and India were also felicitated including Dr. Dhiraj Vyas, Er. Anil Katare, Dr. Parvinder Pal Singh, Dr. Ajay Kumar, Dr. S.R. Meena, Dr. P.N. Gupta, Dr. Asha Chaubey, Dr. Yedukondalu Nalli, Dr. Qazi Naveed Ahmed, Dr. Fayaz Malik, Dr. Govind Yadav, Dr. Ramajayan P., Dr. RaiKishore Rai, Dr. Sanket Kumar Shukla, Dr. Gurleen Kour, Dr. Amit Nargotra, Dr. Amol Babasaheb Gade, Dr. Parsoon Gupta, Dr. Kuljit Singh, Dr. Avisek Mahapa , Dr. Mohd. Jamal Dar and others. The ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks by Abdul Rahim, Chief Scientist & Head RMBD&IST and Head IIIM (Branch) Srinagar, while proceedings were conducted by Dr. Gurleen Kour.