Conference Schedule

13th September, 2026[SUNDAY]

01:00 PM
Departure from RGCB
06:00 PM – 06:10 PM
Dr. Beena Pillai Director, BRIC-RGCB

Welcome Address

06:10 PM – 06:50 PM
Professor M Radhakrishna Pillai Sraman Life Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Beyond Discovery: Positioning a Research Institute on the map of global health care application

06:50 PM – 07:30 PM
Professor Joshy Jacob Emory University, USA

Antigen-Driven Clonal Expansion and Autoreactivity in Hidradenitis Suppurativa

07:30 PM – 08:10 PM
Dr. Tessy T.Maliekal BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Redefining the Oncogenic Role of EPHA2: Cis Interaction with Ephrin-B1 Drives Oral Cancer Recurrence

08:15 PM Onwards

Dinner

14th September, 2026[MONDAY]

09:00 AM – 09:40 AM
Dr. Ganesh E. Phad CK-CARE, Davos, Switzerland

High-resolution deconvolution of human adaptive memory responses

09:40 AM – 10:20 AM
Dr. Rajeeve Sivadasan BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

An unconventional RNA-binding function of a DNA chaperone

10:20 AM – 11:00 AM
Dr. Ruchi Anand IIT Bombay, Mumbai

Combatting Ribosomal Methylation Based Antibiotic Resistance: A war at the microscopic level

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM

Tea Break

11:15 AM – 11:55 AM
Dr. Praveen C. Verma CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow

Engineering Plant Defence: Pectin Methyl Esterase-Mediated Methanol Signalling for Enhanced Insect Resistance and Plant Immunity

11:55 AM – 12:35 PM
Dr. Ananthalakshmy Sundararaman BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

How Do We Move Molecular Giants Across Membranes? The Case for Vesicular Transport of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase to the Nucleus

12:35 PM – 01:15 PM
Dr. Amit Awasthi BRIC-THSTI, Faridabad

Th9 Cells: From Differentiation to Cancer Immunotherapy

01:15 PM – 02:15 PM

Lunch

02:15 PM – 02:55 PM
Dr. Ani V. Das BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

From Hidden RNA to Early Detection: The piR-019324 Story

02:55 PM – 03:35 PM
Dr. Dibyendu Das IISER-Kolkata, Kolkata

Non-equilibrium self-assembly for living matter-like properties

03:35 PM – 04:15 PM
Dr. Anish Kundu BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Multi-omics map of comprehensive defense framework in host plants against Pythium myriotylum

04:15 PM – 04:30 PM

Tea Break

04:30 PM – 05:45 PM
Chaired by Professor M Radhakrishna Pillai Sraman Life Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Should every publicly funded research project demonstrate societal impact beyond publications?

Round Table Session
05:45 PM Onwards

Posters

07:00 PM Onwards

Dinner

15th September, 2026[TUESDAY]

09:00 AM – 09:40 AM
Dr. Arun Sankaradoss BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Critical role for IFN-γ in regulating antibody-mediated resistance to dengue infection

09:40 AM – 10:20 AM
Dr. N. Nagarajan Kannan Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

Decoding Cellular Origins of Breast Cancer Subtypes

10:20 AM – 11:00 AM
Dr. Nagarjun Narayanaswamy BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Proximity Dependent Cysteine to Lysine Labelling Through S → N Acyl shift

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM

Tea Break

11:15 AM – 11:55 AM
Dr. Deepa Subramanyam BRIC-NCCS, Pune

Trafficking gone wrong: mutant forms of clathrin heavy chain and intellectual disability

11:55 AM – 12:35 PM
Dr. John B. Johnson BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Insights into RNA virus – Complement interactions

12:35 PM – 01:15 PM
Professor Dipshikha Chakravortty IISc, Bengaluru

Intracellular bacterial quorum and the life of Salmonella

01:15 PM – 02:30 PM

Lunch

02:30 PM – 04:30 PM

Excursion

05:00 PM – 06:30 PM

Posters

06:30 PM – 07:10 PM
Dr. Girdhari Lal BRIC-NCCS, Pune

HTR2B represents a neuroimmune checkpoint controlling anti-tumor T cell responses in colon cancer

07:10 PM – 07:50 PM
Dr. Lightson N.G BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Exploring Multifunctional Carbon Nanomaterial for Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications

08:00 PM Onwards

Dinner

16th September, 2026[WEDNESDAY]

09:00 AM – 09:40 AM
Dr. Jeemon P SCTIMST, Thiruvananthapuram

Tracking circulating microRNAs in Heart Failure: identifying stable endogenous controls for longitudinal signature discovery

09:40 AM – 10:20 AM
Dr. Jackson James BRIC-RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram

Wnt-Driven Hes1 Expression Controls Stemness and Neural Progenitor Fate Specification

10:20 AM – 11:00 AM
Dr. Dimple Notani NCBS, Bengaluru

RNA as a Key Regulator of Enhancer Hierarchies and Promoter Priming

11:00 AM – 11:15 AM

Tea Break

11:15 AM – 11:55 AM
Dr. Shrikant S. Mantri BRIC-NABI, Mohali

Exploring Nature and Beyond: Supercomputing-Driven Discovery of Novel Natural Products and De Novo Smart Protein Design

11:55 AM – 12:15 PM
Student Flash Talks BRIC-RGCB

Best Posters

12:15 PM – 12:30 PM
Dr. Beena Pillai Director, BRIC-RGCB

Concluding Remarks

12:30 PM Onwards

Lunch & Departures