Lucknow – CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute Lucknow celebrated its 75th Annual Day along with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations at the institute campus, marking seventy-five years of dedicated service in drug discovery, biomedical research, and public health. The programme brought together scientists, research scholars, technical and administrative staff, students, and invited guests to commemorate the institute’s scientific achievements and ongoing initiatives.
Dr. Radha Rangarajan, the Director, CSIR-CDRI, extended a warm welcome to the Chief Guest, Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Secretary, DSIR, Government of India, Padma Shri Dr Abhay Bang, eminent public health expert and co-founder of Society for Education Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), Garhchiroli and Dr Satya Dash, CEO, IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad whose presence underscored the national significance of the occasion.
Platinum Jubilee Lecture on “Research with the People” by Padma Shri Dr. Abhay Bang
As part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, a distinguished lecture titled “Research with the People” was delivered by Padma Shri Dr Abhay Bang, eminent public health expert and co-founder of Society for Education Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH), Garhchiroli.
In a compelling and thought-provoking address, Dr. Bang emphasized that the true purpose of research should be to address the real needs of the communities’ researchers serve, rather than being guided solely by academic or institutional priorities. He highlighted that meaningful scientific inquiry must remain grounded in social realities and responsive to local challenges.
Advocating a strong people-first philosophy, Dr. Bang reiterated that research should ultimately serve the community one works with—not merely the research community one reports to. He further presented examples of impactful community-led innovations in maternal and newborn care, disease prevention, and strengthening of primary healthcare systems. These experiences demonstrated how locally grounded evidence can lead to lasting and large-scale improvements in public health.
The lecture inspired researchers, students, and faculty alike to re-envision research as a collaborative, socially responsive process capable of bringing meaningful change to people’s lives.
Presentation of Annual Report by Director CSIR-CDRI
Following the Platinum Jubilee Lecture, Director, Dr. Radha Rangarajan presented the Institute’s Annual Report, highlighting recent scientific achievements, key research milestones, and future directions. She also briefed the audience on the year-long Platinum Jubilee celebrations and notable accomplishments during the year.
She noted with pride that the Institute’s scientists received several prestigious honours, including fellowships of national Science Academies and awards from leading agencies and professional societies. Marking the Platinum Jubilee as a milestone of knowledge and legacy, Dr. Rangarajan expressed deep gratitude to the Institute’s scientists for their dedicated contributions to scientific advancement and encouraged them to uphold the core values while continuing to strive forward with the motto “Thinking Big, Aiming High.”
She also highlighted the Institute’s responsibility to uphold and strengthen its distinguished legacy of scientific excellence, while simultaneously embracing the transformative changes necessary to foster a progressive, dynamic, and future-ready research ecosystem capable of addressing emerging scientific and societal challenges.
Address by Guest of Honour, Dr Satya Dash
While addressing the audience Dr.Satya Dash, CEO of IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad underscored the critical importance of translational research and entrepreneurship development in maximizing the societal impact of scientific discoveries. He highlighted that start-ups and young entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in converting laboratory research into viable technologies, products, and healthcare solutions.
Drawing comparisons with developed nations such as the USA and the UK, he noted that universities and research institutions there actively nurture entrepreneurial mind-sets among students and researchers, creating robust innovation ecosystems. He emphasized that fostering a similar culture in India—through mentorship, incubation support, and industry linkages—is essential to accelerate research translation, strengthen innovation-led growth, and enhance the country’s global competitiveness.
Annual Day address by Chief Guest, Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR
Connecting the Dots which have NOT been connected before, is the key for creativity: Dr. N. Kalaiselvi
Chief Guest, Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, highlighted that Indian science today must focus on better integration across disciplines and institutions to foster creativity and innovation. Referring to the Government’s growing emphasis on the biopharma sector, she noted that strengthening the research-to-translation pipeline, promoting start-ups, and enhancing industry–academia collaboration are key priorities for ensuring affordable healthcare and global competitiveness. She added that a mature institution like CDRI, with its 75-year legacy, carries a greater responsibility to contribute to the vision of Viksit Bharat through impactful, collaborative, and sustainable programmes in the healthcare and biopharma domains.
Later in the program CSIR-CDRI’s Platinum Jubilee video was launched and Virtual Herbarium were also unveiled The Herbarium presently preserves nearly 30,000 specimens representing more than 3,000 species across 1,752 genera and 176 families of angiosperms, along with select gymnosperms and cryptogams, collected from almost all Indian states and Union Territories, as well as several countries including Germany, Italy, Japan, Peru, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Nepal. This herbarium is indexed in the New York Botanical Garden’s Index Herbarium, and regarded as one of the country’s most valuable repositories of medicinal plant diversity.
Signing of MoUs for Institutional Initiatives and Collaborations
During the programme, four MoUs were signed to strengthen academic and research collaborations with
1. Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer Institute, Lucknow (to promote & advance cancer care, translational and clinical research in oncology),
2. Aganitha Cognitive Solutions Private Limited, Hyderabad (for high-throughput biological data with artificial intelligence (AI) and deep-learning–based generative models to address complex challenges in drug discovery and development),
3. NIPER-Hyderabad (for promoting Basic & Translational Research in Pharmaceutical Sciences) and
4. Huwel Lifesciences, Ltd, Hyderabad (To promote Nucleic acids based research and development of indigenous healthcare technologies)
The programme concluded with marking a memorable milestone in the institute’s journey of seventy-five years of scientific excellence and service to society. Dr. Aamir Nazir, the Organizing secretary of the Annual Day and Platinum Jubilee Celebrations, proposed vote of thanks.
