An agreement was signed between the National Brain Reasearch Centre, an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology represented by its director, Prof. V. Ravindranath and the Deputy Director of Inserm, in charge of the strategical affairs M. Thierry Damerval and The President of the University Paris Diderot- Paris VII Professor Guy Cousineau. The agreement signed during the recent visit of the French President to India pertained to the setting up of a joint NBRC-INSERM Associated Laboratory known as "PROTECT", an acronym for Promoting Research Oriented Towards Early CNS (central nervous system) Therapies with a view to extending and strengthening relations in the area of research on developmental brain disorders, that affects millions of children world-wide. The agreement includes a training element for building human capacity and exchange of research scientists from both countries. The mandate of the associated laboratory is to make contributions towards understanding the basic mechanisms involved in developmental brain disorders and help develop novel treatments for neonatal brain disorders. The laboratory will focus on the short term and long term consequences of maternal malnutrition on the progeny, which is an issue of great societal importance and impact. It will also focus on abnormal brain development and whether stem cells can be used in the context of developmental disorders. The associated laboratory will be headed by Dr. Shyamala Mani from NBRC and Dr. Pierre Gressens from U676, Inserm.
Source:
Press Information Bureau Date: January 30, 2008
