A media delegation from Gujarat coordinated by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India, visited the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, on Tuesday, getting a first-hand glimpse of the institute’s work in drug discovery, medicinal and aromatic plants, biotechnology, farmer-oriented technologies and startup development. The delegation, comprising journalists and media professionals from Gujarat representing newspapers, television channels and digital media platforms, interacted with scientists and visited key research facilities to understand how scientific research is being taken from the laboratory to the field and ultimately towards commercialisation and societal applications.

During the visit, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM Jammu and CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, gave a detailed presentation on the institute’s research programmes, scientific achievements, societal missions and innovation ecosystem. In his address, Dr. Ahmed highlighted that CSIR-IIIM works at the interface of biodiversity, traditional knowledge and modern medicine, with a major focus on natural products, medicinal and aromatic plants and drug discovery. He explained that the institute’s research process begins with biodiversity prospecting and authentication of medicinal plants, followed by extraction and isolation of bioactive compounds, pharmacological evaluation and pre-clinical studies. He emphasised that research should not remain confined to laboratories and that industry involvement and commercialisation are essential for taking technologies to society. Dr. Ahmed also highlighted the institute’s work under the Aroma Mission and Floriculture Mission, including its contribution to the lavender-based Purple Revolution. He said CSIR-IIIM is working with farmers on quality planting material, improved cultivation practices, value addition and technology transfer, while also exploring the integration of beekeeping with agriculture to improve pollination and create additional income opportunities. He further spoke about the institute’s work across different geo-climatic zones of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, its support to startups and young innovators, and efforts to strengthen the interface between science, industry, agriculture and society. He informed institute’s drug-discovery pipeline includes several New Chemical Entity (NCE) leads targeting serious diseases. “These include IIIM-290-for pancreatic cancer; IIIM-975-AD, a multitarget lead for Alzheimer’s disease that is ready for Phase-II clinical trials; and IIIM-873- for breast cancer,” he said. “Other programmes, IIIM-CS-20, a cannabinoid-based lead for colorectal cancer; IIIM-CS-85, a cannabinoid-based lead for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia; and IIIM-AHP-346-for ovarian cancer. Several other candidates are at different stages of pre-clinical development,” he added.

The delegation was also briefed about CSIR-IIIM’s advanced scientific infrastructure. The institute has facilities supporting pre-clinical research, quality assessment, drug manufacturing, fermentation, microbial research and technology scale-up. The institute’s work with farmers was another major focus of the visit. CSIR-IIIM operates field research facilities across different geo-climatic zones. Its 50-acre field station at Chatha, near Jammu airport, is used for farmer training, supply of quality planting material and experimental trials involving medicinal and aromatic plants. Similar activities are undertaken at facilities in Kashmir, including Pulwama and near Gulmarg, while the institute has also extended field research to Ladakh. The institute has developed interventions aimed at helping honeybee colonies withstand harsh winter conditions and reducing losses associated with shifting bee colonies to warmer areas. The delegation was also briefed about CSIR-IIIM’s growing startup and innovation ecosystem through its BioNEST Incubator and Atal Incubation Centre. Innovators with promising ideas are assessed and, where found suitable, provided scientific mentorship and access to research infrastructure at subsidised rates for product development, testing and validation. According to the presentation, the Jammu BioNEST incubator has registered 165 startup companies, with 10 incubatees in the product-development stage and three startups having launched products in the market. More than 1,000 students have also been trained through skill-development programmes. The Srinagar Atal Incubation Centre has registered more than 25 startup companies, with eight incubatees in the product-development stage and two startups having launched products, while more than 700 students have received training.Travel Guides & Travelogues At the Industrial Biotech Park, Kathua, the institute’s Agri, Nutri and HealthTech Bio Incubator has registered four startups and trained around 50 students, besides supporting the establishment of a Centre of Excellence. Sharing its research performance for the last one year, CSIR-IIIM reported 159 publications, 20 patent applications and an average impact factor of 4.2. The institute currently has 249 PhD students, while 40 scholars were awarded PhDs during the period covered by the presentation. Dr. Ahmed also outlined ongoing CSIR Mission and Mission-mode projects covering biodiversity and drug discovery, phytopharmaceuticals, antimicrobial resistance, bioresource conservation, genome editing and smart agrotechnologies.

Later, the delegation visited the institute’s major research facilities, including the Herbarium, GLP Animal House, cGMP Facility, Fermentation Facility and Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC) Facility. Scientists explained the functioning and significance of these facilities and their role in supporting research, pre-clinical testing, quality control, drug manufacturing and scale-up of technologies. Earlier, the programme began with a welcome address by Dr. Saurabh Saran, PI, BioNEST IIIM-TBI, followed by a presentation on the Aroma and Floriculture Missions by Dr. Suphla B. Gupta, Nodal Aroma Mission. Dr. Amit Nargotra, Scientist-F, felicitated the media delegates. The visit concluded with interactions between journalists and scientists and guided tours of the institute’s research facilities, providing the visiting media professionals an insight into CSIR-IIIM’s efforts to connect scientific research with healthcare, agriculture, industry and wider societal needs. Dr. Vidushi Abrol, conducted the proceedings.