SHILLONG, Oct 30: Curtain came down on weeklong international school for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, which was organised by the Department of Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with the Department of Education, NEHU, Shillong.
According to a statement on Saturday, the programme was organised with an aim to “provide participants with extensive knowledge to understand the modern interventional tools related to cognitive impairment in children with neurodevelopmental disorders and improvement in their functional outcome and quality of life.”
During the programme, participants were also provided with hands-on training on the theme ‘Modern interventional tools to improve cognitive behaviour in children with neurodevelopmental disorders’. “That would allow them to understand how diseased brain condition could be improved and made to function similar to the normal human brain,” the statement said. “The other key features of this school were emphasis on open scientific discussion with experts, a hands-on laboratory training experience and presentation of the participants through symposia and group meetings during the weeklong event,” it added.
During the programme, research ideas and technical know-how were also shared among the participants, which include doctoral research scholars, Master’s students, young faculty members, and scientists and researchers working in the field from the Asia-Pacific region.
“The School received large number of applications from participants from different countries in the Asia-Pacific region such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Armenia, Nigeria etc,” the statement said.
NEIGRIHMS Director, Prof. Nalin Mehta, who attended the programme as the chief guest, stressed upon improving the quality of life of people in general and children in particular. He argued that it is an important facet of the researchers and policymakers with special reference to neurodevelopmental disorders.
Prof. Mehta also suggested the integration of different domains such as Medicine, Engineering, Technology, and Social Sciences for the betterment of society.
Associate Prof. and Coordinator, Biomedical Engineering Department, NEHU, Dr. Dinesh Bhatia, stressed that technological interventions are important to better the quality of life. He also touched upon different research findings that affect the quality of life of disabled population in the country.
Prof. Yukiko Goda from Japan conferred about the scope of the School and the opportunities available to young budding scientists and researchers for seeking funding from the International Brain Research Organization.
She, during the programme, informed about the different brain research societies and their activities, and stressed on the need of technological interventions for the benefit of people with disability.