After signing the MoU in 2008 to establish Wadhwani Research Centre in Biosciences and Bioengineering (WRCBB), Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, Chairman, Wadhwani Foundation & Founder, Symphony Technology Group, Mrs. Kathy Wadhwani and Prof. Devang Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay inaugurated the Centre by unveiling the ceremonial plaque at IIT Bombay today afternoon. Dr. Ajay Kela, President and CEO, Wadhwani Foundation and an alumnus of IIT-Bombay was also present at the occasion.
Wadhwani Foundation is founded by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani – a distinguished alumnus of IIT Bombay from the class of 1969 and an IT entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, California. Dr. Wadhwani had announced a gift of $5 million to his alma mater at a conference held in New York in July 2008.
Faculty of Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering (DBSBE) will be affiliated to WRCBB to carry out their research. DBSBE is a relatively young department and has achieved recognition for its research excellence in multiple areas. Some of these are cancer cell biology, signaling mechanisms in immune cells, computational biology, computational neurobiology, bio-nanotechnology, biosensors and drug delivery systems among others. In addition, WRCBB has chosen to focus on understanding Cell Motility and Cancer Invasion as its research area. The goal is to build a better knowledge base in this field. The two key questions that will be addressed while doing this research are:
How cytoskeletal protein dynamics affect cell motility and migration?
How the physicochemical properties of three dimensional engineered scaffolds affect cell shape and motility?
It is hoped that this research will lead to better understanding of how cancers spread in the body.
The Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering has faculty from cell biology, biochemistry, immunology, physics, engineering and medicine and is in a unique position to take up this multi-investigator challenging project in
vibrant academic environment of IITB. In addition to their own research strengths, this group aims to seek active collaboration with leaders in cell motility and metastasis from national and international research arena to realize the objectives of the project.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Devang Khakhar, Director, IIT Bombay said: “WRCBB was envisioned with the objective to set new standards for world-class research with high global impact. With its initial thrust area on Cell Motility and Cancer Invasion, it intends to have top-class faculty conduct cutting edge research using latest in emerging technologies with the sole purpose of changing lives for the better all over the world. I would like to thank Dr. Wadhwani, once again, for this generous endowment that is enabling us to take activities in the area of Biosciences and Bioengineering to a significantly higher level and establishing ourselves as one of the world's leading research schools in this area”.
“We are thankful to Dr. Romesh Wadhwani for this generous donation that will provide the impetus to take our research to the next level. It is in sync with our efforts to make IITB a global research destination,” commented Prof. A.Q. Contractor, Dean of Alumni and Corporate Relations.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Prof. N.S. Punekar, Head of Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, said, “On behalf of the faculty of the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering I greatly appreciate the confidence placed by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani in our research capabilities. We are looking forward to making significant strides on this research endeavor.”