5th Undergraduate Research Symposium - 2023
The 5th Undergraduate Research Symposium 2023 of the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences (FAHS) was held at the Hoover Auditorium, Faculty of Medicine, on 28th March 2023 under the theme of “Strengthening Healthcare through Research and Innovation”. Prof. S. Srisatkunarajah, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, Mrs. Deivy Thabotharan, Dean, FAHS, Deans of other faculties, and other dignitaries participated as special guests of the symposium. The keynote speech was delivered by Prof. Niroshini Nirmalan, chair in Molecular Biosciences, university of Salford, Manchester, United Kingdom, on “Scientific Research Careers: Opportunities, Challenges and Rewards” via Zoom.
The abstract on “Knowledge of menopause among women at the Nallur MOH area” presented by Ms. S. Piraveena from the Department of Nursing has been awarded the best paper presentation award and a price of Rs. 10,000.00. The symposium was financially supported by Bank of Ceylon, Imuno Lab Pvt. Ltd, Organic Trading and the first batch graduates of FAHS.
Please click here to download the proceeding of the URS – 2023
The 5th Undergraduate Research Symposium has organized by the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences independently under the theme of ‘Strengthening health care through research and innovation”. This symposium provides the opportunity for the undergraduates to publish their research findings in this forum and get experienced. There were 28 abstracts submitted by the undergraduates of Faculty of Allied Health Sciences through the CMT. The abstracts were sent to the reviewers in the relevant field with the review report form. Based on the blind review process, all the abstracts were accepted with minor and major corrections. This review process ensured the standard of the abstracts published in the symposium.
I would like to thank the undergraduates who have submitted their research findings in this symposium and thank all the reviewers for reviewing the abstracts in a short period of time. I appreciate everyone who provided their inputs and suggestions to make this symposium proceedings in a standard level.
Mrs. V. Jegapragash
Editor, 5th Undergraduate Research Symposium,
Faculty of Allied Health Sciences,
University of Jaffna.
Scientific Research Careers: Opportunities, Challenges and Rewards
The keynote address will explore the different routes for achieving a career in research and discuss the inherent opportunities and challenges therein. The talk will be modelled on Prof Nirmalan’s research career working on Drug discovery in malaria. Resistance acquisition to all categories of antimalarial drugs and the paucity of new drugs in the developmental pipeline makes drug discovery an urgent priority. With traditional developmental pipelines for a new drug taking 15-17 years, drug repositioning or re-purposing could offer a viable alternative route to fast-track discovery. Furthermore, natural products as a drug resource continues to be sidelined despite strong evidence of effectivity in complex diseases like malaria.
Sri Lanka has achieved the highly significant and ambitious milestone of eliminating Malaria from the country. Maintaining such a status in the backdrop of relentless resistance acquisition and dwindling chemotherapeutic options, could prove challenging. The keynote address is intended to urge and inspire the next generation of research scientists, to reinforce research strategies that could help in combatting disease.
Prof Niroshini Nirmalan MBBS, MSc, PhD, FHEA
Keynote Speech, 5th Undergraduate Research Symposium,
Chair in Molecular Biosciences
School of Science, Engineering and Environment
University of Salford, Manchester, UK.
Dean/FAHS | |
Symposium Chair | |
Secretary | |
Treasurer | Dr. K. Ketheeswaran |
Editor | |
Committee Members | Mrs. L. Kamalarupan |