Scientific Program 2025

DAY 1: 9th June 2025

Time	Topic	Resource Faculty
Day 1: 09/06/2025                       Module 1: Introduction and History of Vaccine Development
8.00-9.00 am	Registration	Organizing Team
9:00-9:20 am	Introduction and objectives of the course Introduction of the participants	Dr. Madhu Gupta, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health (DCM & SPH), PGIMER, Chandigarh
9:20-10:00 am	History of vaccines and vaccination	Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Former HOD, DCM & SPH, and Former Dean (Academics), PGIMER, Chandigarh, Adjunct Faculty, UIPHS, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak Dr. Madhu Gupta, Professor, DCM & SPH, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, Former Principal, Former HOD, Department of Community Health, Academic Officer, Christian Medical College, Vellore
10:00-10:45 am	Case study 1: Small Pox eradication
10:45-11:10 am	Tea Break
11:10-11:50 pm	National Vaccine Policy in India	Dr. Nirmal K Ganguly, Former Director General, ICMR, New Delhi	Chair: Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Former HOD, Dept. of Community Medicine and School of Public Health and Former Dean (Academics), PGIMER, Chandigarh
11:50-12.30 pm	Impact of vaccination on disease epidemiology: Strategies to control, eliminate and eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases	Dr. Jayaprakash Muliyil, Former Principal, Former HOD, Department of Community Health, Academic Officer, Christian Medical College, Vellore
12:30-1:30 pm	Inauguration
12:30-12:35 pm	Welcome Address	Dr Arun K Aggarwal, Professor & Head, DCM & SPH, PGIMER, Chandigarh
12:35-12:45 pm	Inaugural Address	Prof. Vivek Lal, Director, PGIMER Chandigarh
12:45-1:00 pm	Distinguished Address	Guest of Honour: Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Drug Controller General of India, CDSCO, MoHFW, GoI
1:00-1:10 pm	Address on Credit Hours	Guest of Honour: Dr Rupinder Bakshi, Punjab Medical Council’s Representative
1:10-1:25 pm	Keynote Address	Chief Guest: Dr Vinod Kumar Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, New Delhi
1:25-1:30 pm	Vote of Thanks	Dr. Madhu Gupta, Professor, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh
1:30 - 2:30 pm	Lunch
2:30 -3:10 pm	Vaccine as a tool to solve public health problem: Lessons learnt from Polio	Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director, Polio, Gates Foundation, USA	Chair: Dr. Nirmal K Ganguly, Former Director General, ICMR, New Delhi
3:10 - 3:40 pm	Measles Elimination and Rubella Control Strategies	Dr. Shivani Gupta, Surveillance Medical Officer, WHO
3:40 - 4:00 pm	Tea
4.00 - 4.30 pm	Role of vaccines in managing outbreaks of Vaccine Preventable Diseases	Dr Kapil Goel, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr Arun K Aggarwal Professor & Head, DCM & SPH, PGIMER, Chandigarh
4.30 - 5.00 pm	The role of the vaccine industry in the development of vaccine	Dr. Prasad Kulkarni, Executive Director, Serum Institute of India, Pune
Special Legacy Lecture: Insights from Vaccinology Legend
5:00-5:30 pm	Public health importance of vaccines: Lessons learnt and Way forward	Dr. Stanley A. Plotkin Professor Emeritus, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA Professor – Adjunct, International Health Division Global Disease Epidemiology and Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA	Chair: Dr. Ananda Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Director, Polio, Gates Foundation, USA
5:30 pm	Wrap up of the day and Feedback of the sessions		Dr Madhu Gupta Course Director

 

DAY 2: 10th June 2025

Time	Topic	Resource Faculty
Day 2: 10/06/2024                          Module 2: Immunology Related to Vaccines
8:30-9:00 am	Recap of Day 1	Dr Madhu Gupta, Course Director
9:00-9:30 am	What a vaccinologist should know about basic aspects of immune response: Innate, Cell-mediated and humoral immune response	Dr. Biman Saikia, Professor and Head, Department of Immunopathology, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr. Sanjay Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh
9:30-10:00 am	Laboratory assessment of Immune response	Dr. Ritu Aggarwal Professor, Department of Immunopathology, PGIMER, Chandigarh
10.00-10:40 am	Immune response to vaccines: durability and long-term immunogenicity	Dr. Vipin Vashishtha, Director and Consultant Pediatrician, Mangla Hospital & Research Centre, Bijnor, UP
10:40-11:10 am	Mucosal response and antibody independent response from vaccines	Dr. Adam Finn, Professor of Paediatrics, Bristol Medical School, UK.
11:10-11:30 am	Tea
11:30-12:00 pm	Vaccination in special situations among children	Dr. Sanjay Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr. Vipin Vashishtha, Director and Consultant Pediatrician, Mangla Hospital & Research Centre, Bijnor, UP
12:00 -12:30 pm	Vaccination in special situations among adults: Immunocompromised individuals including HIV positive and Haematological malignancies	Dr. Vikas Suri, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh
12:30 - 1:00 pm	Vaccination in special situations: Pregnancy	Dr. Rimpi Singla, Additional Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, PGIMER, Chandigarh
1:00-2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00 - 3:00 pm	Open Discussion Forum Case studies on vaccines in special situations	Panellists: Dr. Sanjay Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh Dr. Vikas Suri, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh Dr. Rimpi Singla, Additional Professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, PGIMER, Chandigarh Dr. Harpreet Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr. Vipin Vashishtha, Director and Consultant Pediatrician, Mangla Hospital & Research Centre, Bijnor, UP Moderator: Dr. Madhu Gupta, Professor, DCM & SPH, PGIMER, Chandigarh
3:00-3:20 pm	Tea
3:20-3:50 pm	Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI)	Dr. Deepak Polpakara, Senior Team Lead – AEFI, Immunization Technical Support Unit (JSI-MOHFW)	Chair: Dr. Vishal Guglani, Professor & Head, Department of Paediatrics, GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh
3:50- 4:30 pm	Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI): Causality assessment	Dr. Madhava Ram Balakrishnan, Medical Officer Pharmacovigilance, WHO HQ Geneva, Switzerland
4:30-5:00 pm	Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI): Chandigarh Scenario	Dr. Manjeet Singh District Immunization Officer- cum- District Family Welfare Officer, Chandigarh
5:00-5:40pm	Advocacy in AEFI management at community level; and Introduction of a new vaccine	Dr. Manmeet Kaur, Former Professor, DCM & SPH, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Adjunct Faculty, UIPHS, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak
5:40 pm	Wrap up of the day Feedback of the sessions		Dr Madhu Gupta Course Director

DAY 3: 11th June 2025

Time	Topic	Resource Faculty
Day 3: 11/06/2025          Module 3: Regulations and Ethics; and Phases of Vaccine development
8:30-9:00 am	Recap of Day 2	Dr. Madhu Gupta, Course Director
9:00-9:30 am	Regulations and ethical considerations related to vaccine trials	Dr. Nusrat Shafiq, Professor, Department of Pharmacology, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr Samir Malhotra, Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, PGIMER, Chandigarh
9:30-10:00 am	Case study 2: Ethical issues in vaccine development
10.00-10:30 am	Understanding role of regulators in conducting vaccine trials	Dr Rubina Bose, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), CDSCO, MoHFW, GoI
10:30-11:00 am	Introduction to statistical aspects of vaccine trial (defining sample size: practical approaches, data analysis with examples)	Ms. Maria Abraham, Global Executive - Center of Excellence & Associate Director – Biostatistics, EMMES, Bangalore
11:00-11:20 am	Tea
11:20-11:50 pm	Phase I Vaccine trial: Methodology and implementation	Dr. Badri Narayan Patnaik Director, Clinical Development, Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad	Chair: Dr. Temsunaro Rongsen Chandola, Senior Scientist and Director, SAS
11:50-12:20 pm	Phase II Vaccine trial: Methodology and implementation	Dr. Badri Narayan Patnaik Director, Clinical Development, Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad
12:20 – 1:15 pm	Group exercise 1: How to design, recruit and analyse the results of phase I/II trials of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
1:15 - 2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00-2:30 pm	Phase III Vaccine trial: How to assess vaccine efficacy? Rotavirus vaccine	Dr. Temsunaro Rongsen Chandola, Senior Scientist and Director, SAS	Chair: Dr Rubina Bose, Deputy Drugs Controller (India), CDSCO, MoHFW, GoI
2:30-3:20 pm	Group exercise 2: How to design, recruit and analyse the results of phase III trials of rotavirus vaccine?
3:20-3:50 pm	Phase IV: Population based post licensure surveillance and pharmacovigilance (Effectiveness studies)
3:50-4:10 pm	Tea
4:10-4:40 pm	Assessing herd protection and vaccine effectiveness	Dr. John Clemens, Senior Scientific Advisor to the Director General, International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Republic of Korea	Dr. Badri Narayan Patnaik Director, Clinical Development, Bharat Biotech International Limited, Hyderabad
4:40-5:00 pm	Use of vaccine development platform technologies for Pandemic preparedness	Mr. Sourabh Sobti, Head of Business Development, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), New Delhi
5:00-5:20 pm	Codon deoptimization technology and its application in viral vaccine development	Dr. Raju Sunagar, Deputy General Manager R&D, Indian Immunologicals Ltd., Hyderabad
5:20-5:40 pm	Ethical Issues in Human Challenge Trials	Dr Nithya Gogtay, Professor and Head of Clinical Pharmacology, KEM Hospital, Mumbai, Member NTAGI.
5:40 pm	Wrap up of the day Feedback of the sessions		Dr. Madhu Gupta Course Director

DAY 4: 12th June 2025

Time	Topic	Resource Faculty
Day 4: 12/06/2025        Module 4: Introduction of Vaccines in National Immunization Programs
8:30-9:00 am	Recap of Day 3	Dr. Madhu Gupta, Course Director
9:00-9:30 am	Evidence to policy making	Dr. Narendra K. Arora, Executive Director, The INCLEN Trust International, New Delhi	Chair: Dr. Shankar Prinja,Professor (Health Economics), Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER
9:30-10:00 am	Role of disease burden assessment in the decision-making process related to vaccines	Dr. Jacob John, Professor, Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore
10.00-10:30 am	How to do assessment of burden of vaccine preventable disease	Dr Brian Wahl, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Public Health, USA
10:30–11:10 am	Implementation of evidence-based vaccination policies in Indian Context: Recent updates in the National Immunization Schedule	Dr. Pawan Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Incharge (Immunization & Maternal health), MoHFW, India
11:10-11:30 am	Tea
11:30-11:50 pm	Newer vaccine’s introduction and health systems strengthening in India	Dr. Arindam Ray, India Country Lead, Immunization and Surveillance at Gates Foundation	Chair: Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh, Senior Advisor, One Health & Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India, Former Consultant Senior Advisor, Vaccines & Immunization, South Asia, Path, Former Deputy Director, Vaccine Delivery and Infectious diseases, Gates Foundation
11:50-12:20 pm	Introduction of HPV vaccination in Nepal: Experience sharing	Dr. Abhiyan Gautam, Chief, Child Health and Immunization Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal
12:20-12:40 pm	Experience sharing/lessons learnt/Success stories in the national immunization program of Sri Lanka	Dr. Samitha Ginige, Director of Quarantine, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka
12:40-1:00PM	Experience sharing on How to better reach the zero-dose or under-vaccinated children in LMICs	Dr. Suresh Dalpath, National Technical Lead: Immunization Implementation Country Program- India, William J Clinton Foundation
1:00-2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00-2:30 pm	Innovations in immunization in the health system of India	Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh, Senior Advisor, One Health & Environmental Health, Public Health Foundation of India	Chair: Dr Jacob John, Professor, Community Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore
2:30-3:00 pm	Latest technological advancements in vaccine platform and One Health	Dr. Santosh Ramesh Taur, Director Medical Affairs, Vaccines, Rare Diseases and Digital Medical Lead, Pfizer
3:00-3:30 pm	Health economics as a tool in analysing vaccine policy option	Dr. Shankar Prinja,Professor (Health Economics), DCM SPH, PGIMER
3:30-4:00 pm	Economic Perspectives on Group A Streptococcus Vaccine Introduction	Dr Jeffrey Cannon, Senior Research Officer and Health Economist, The Kids Research Institute, Perth, Australia
4:00-4:20 pm	Tea
4:20-4:50 pm	Vaccine Hesitancy and Advocacy	Dr. Naveen Thacker, Executive Director, International Pediatric Association	Chair: Dr. Pawan Kumar, Additional Commissioner, Incharge (Immunization & Maternal Health), MoHFW, India
4:50-5:20 pm	Procurement of vaccines: Role of GAVI, WHO, UNICEF etc.	Mr. Homero Hernandez, Senior Country Officer, GAVI Alliance, Geneva
5:20-5:50pm	Open Discussion Forum: Addressing Challenges in introduction of newer vaccines at the national level	Panelists Dr. Raj Shankar Ghosh Dr. Pawan Kumar Dr Arindam Ray Dr. Jacob John Mr. Homero Hernandez Dr. Shankar Prinja Dr. Navneet Bichha	Chair: Dr. Naveen Thacker, Executive Director, International Pediatric Association
5:50 pm	Wrap up of the day Feedback of the sessions		Dr. Madhu Gupta Course Director

DAY 5: 13th June 2025

Time	Topic	Resource Faculty
Day 5: 13/06/2025               Module 5: Update on Current and New Vaccines
8:30-9:00 am	Recap of Day 4                                         Dr. Madhu Gupta, Course Director
9:00 – 9:30 am	Life course approach in Immunization	Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya, Founder, Foundation for People-centric Health Systems (FPHS), New Delhi	Chair: Dr. Manjula Singh, Scientist F, Delivery Research, ICMR, New Delhi
9:30 – 10:00 am	Need for adult immunization	Dr. Suneela Garg, Professor of Excellence, Chair Programme Advisory Committee, NIHFW, New Delhi, India, Ex-Director, Professor & Head Community Medicine, MAMC, Head FMC, Delhi University
10:00-10:30 am	Vaccination and Anti-microbial resistance	Dr Kamini Walia, Scientist G & Head, Descriptive Research Division, ICMR, New Delhi
10:30-11:00 am	Update on Influenza vaccines and Experience sharing regarding adult immunization clinic	Dr. Lalit Sankhe, Associate Professor, Grant Medical College, Mumbai Dr. Muralidhar Tambe, Professor and Head, Department of Community Medicine, BJ Medical College, Pune, India
11:00-11:20 am	Tea
11:20-11:40 am	Update on Adult Pneumococcal vaccine	Dr. Veena G Kamath, Professor & Head, Department of Community Medicine, KMC Manipal, Karnataka	Chair: Dr. Suneela Garg Professor of Excellence, Chair Programme Advisory Committee, NIHFW, New Delhi, India, Ex-Director, Professor & Head Community Medicine, MAMC, Head FMC, Delhi University
11:40-12:00 pm	Update on Shingles and Varicella vaccines	Dr. Parvinder Kaur Chawla, Senior Consultant Internal Medicine, Fortis Mohali
12:00-12:20 pm	Update on Meningococcal vaccine, Cholera and Hepatitis A vaccine	Dr. Ashish Bhalla, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh
12:20-12:40 pm	Update on Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine	Dr. Rashmi Bagga, Professor,Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, PGIMER, Chandigarh
12:40-1:00 pm	Update on TB Vaccines	Dr. Manjula Singh, Scientist F, Delivery Research, ICMR, New Delhi
1:00-1:20 pm	Update on Travel Vaccines	Dr. Swayampragyan Parida, Additional Professor, DCM  & FM, AIIMS Bhubaneshwar
1:20-2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00-2:20 pm	Licensed vaccines in children & Adolescents: Pneumococcal and Hexavalent vaccines	Dr. Sanjay Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh	Chair: Dr Kamini Walia Scientist G & Head, Descriptive Research Division, ICMR, New Delhi
2:20-2:40 pm	Licensed vaccines in children: Typhoid and RSV vaccines	Dr. Unmesh Upadhyay, Director and Consultant Pediatrician, Vismay child care hospital, Ahmedabad, India
2:40-3:00pm	Update on Rabies vaccine	Dr. Omesh Bharti, Deputy Director Health Services- cum- State Epidemiologist, Himachal Pradesh
3:00-3:20 pm	Update on Dengue and Malaria vaccines	Dr. Harpreet Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh
3:20-3:40 pm	Tea
3:40-4:00pm	Update on HIV/AIDS vaccines	Dr. Jerome H. Kim, Director General, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea	Chair: Dr. Sanjay Verma, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Advanced Pediatric Centre, PGIMER, Chandigarh
4:00-4:20 pm	Update on Group A Streptococcus Vaccine	Dr. Vivek Sagar, Additional Professor, Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health, PGIMER
4:20-4:40pm	Climate Change and Immunization	Dr. Ravindra Khaiwal, Professor of Environment Health, Department of Community Medicine & School of Public Health, PGIMER
4:40-5:00 pm	Leveraging Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to Accelerate the Vaccines R&D for LMICs	Dr. Tarun Saluja, Head of Clinical Development, International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea
5:00 pm	Valedictory followed by High Tea