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Nitte (Deemed-to-be-University) in Mangaluru has set up a Centre for Omics and Systems Medicine for building a world-class research hub for advanced genomic and molecular studies to address health challenges relevant to India, its Vice-Chancellor M.S. Moodithaya said on Monday. Addressing the press, Prof. Moodithaya said, “One of the objectives is to support cutting-edge disease research by providing high-end facilities and expertise in proteomics, metabolomics, and related fields.” The facility has been established on a 5,000 sq ft area by investing ₹20 crore in equipment, he said. Harsha Halahalli, Registrar of the institution, said that the centre is a high-end facility for analytical work related to biological sciences. Dr. Halahalli added, “Studies for identifying and estimating proteins and other biological molecules that typically require months of work can be completed in a few hours with a high-end equipment at the centre. Thousands of proteins from hundreds of samples can be analysed each day in this facility.” The centre will serve researchers from across India and abroad. It will also provide analytical and consultancy services for industry, he said. The Registrar said another objective is to train students and researchers in emerging areas of omics and data science to strengthen India’s biomedical research capacity. CoE in aquamarine innovation Referring to other projects at the university, the Vice-Chancellor said that Nitte-Government of Karnataka Centre of Excellence in Aquamarine Innovation was opened at the university recently. The Centre of Excellence (CoE) was established with a financial outlay of ₹7.4 crore, to be utilised over a period of three years. This grant from the State government will be used to establish advanced research laboratories for cutting-edge research on health management and crop productivity of aquaculture species, bioremediation, and bioprospecting. The other activities envisaged under this CoE include support for innovation through mentorship, guidance, infrastructure support, funding, networking opportunities for startups, capacity building through skill development programmes in the field of marine biotechnology, and outreach activities through hosting and conducting conferences and farm-level demonstrations of new technologies. Prof. Moodithaya said that five constituent colleges of Nitte group in Bengaluru are now part of the Nitte (Deemed-to-be-University). “With this, all higher education institutes of Nitte Education Trust are now under the single umbrella of Nitte DU. New courses The Vice-Chancellor said that the university is contemplating introducing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Quantum Computing and AI, Climate Change, Space Technology, and One Health. The university now offers over 160 programmes across disciplines.
