Mysuru: The Department of Studies in Food Science and Nutrition, University of Mysore (UoM), has organised a two-day workshop titled “From Nutrigenetics to Personalised Nutrition” on Aug.23 and 24 at the Department premises in Manasagangothri.

Dr. G. Bhanuprakash Reddy, Head, Department of Ocular Biochemistry, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, will deliver the keynote address on the topic “Nutrigenomics-Opportunities and Challenges in India” at 9.30 am. Prof. Asna Urooj, UoM Food Science and Nutrition Department Chairperson and Convenor, will inaugurate at 9 am.

The session will also feature talks by Prof. N.B. Ramachandra, Chairman, Department of Genetics and Genomics, UoM, on “Genomics and its Applications,” and Dr. Vimal Karani, Associate Professor, Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition, University of Reading, United Kingdom, on “Fundamentals of Nutrigenetics.”

On Aug.24, the technical sessions will begin at 9.30 with a talk by Dr. Geetha Dharmatti, Clinical Nutritionist, Geetha Nutriheal Consultancy and Chief Nutrigenomic Counsellor, Pune, on “Clinical Nutrition and Nutrigenetics,”; Janani Tamilvanan, Nutritionist and Director, Geneobe Wellness Centre and Institute of Nutrigenetics, Coimbatore, on “Translating Nutrigenetics to Personalised Nutrition” besides group discussions and hands-on training-demonstration of genetic testing in the Lab-PCR/genotyping and ELISA linked assays by Dr. Ramachandra and team and Dr. Asna Urooj and team.

Major thrust area of the workshop

Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics are potentially of huge importance to the health care system and to understand the biology underlying normal homeostasis and disease.

Given that India currently represents 49 percent of world’s diabetes burden, it is pertinent to prevent population from becoming overweight/obese, which is an important risk factor for development of diabetes, through genotype-based nutritional intervention (that is, personalised nutrition). This workshop aims to spread knowledge of nutrigenetics and personalised nutrition to participants who can use this workshop as a platform to develop their skills in genotype-based nutritional interventions.