ICMR Timeline

Dr. Santasabuj Das

MBBS, M.D. (General Medicine)
Director & Scientist G, ICMR - NIRBI, Kolkata

Dr Santasabuj Das is currently appointed as Scientist G and Director at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED), Kolkata. He is also the principal investigator and coordinator of the Biomedical Informatics Center of ICMR at NICED. He has the academic and professional background in Clinical Medicine and is pursuing a full-time research career since 1998.

He joined NICED as an independent investigator and a permanent employee in January 2005. His current research interest spans several areas of host responses to microorganisms (both pathogens and commensals) including immune responses and vaccine development. View Profile

Dr Rajiv Bahl

Secretary to Government of India, Department of Health Research
Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research

Dr Rajiv Bahl is a physician-scientist, with specialization in paediatrics (MD Pediatrics: University of Delhi) and public health (PhD: All India Institute of Medical Sciences). He received an Honorary Doctorate from University of Bergen, Norway, in 2022 in recognition of his contributions to maternal and child health research.

Dr Bahl has demonstrated leadership in health research and translating research to public health policy both in India and at a global level over the past three decades. His prolific scholarly output includes over 250 papers in peer reviewed journals and an H-Index of 78 that positions him among top 1.25% scientists in the world across all disciplines. View Profile

News & Events

• Webinar to assist candidates in understanding the Revised Centralised Interview Process

  AcSIR-Announcement for a webinar in order to assist candidates in understanding the Revised Centralised Interview Process, conducted by the Dean's Office with important instructions and Q&A session.
  Date: Friday, 13th June 2025
  Time: 3:00 PM IST
  Webex Link: https://nimr.webex.com/nimr/j.php?MTID=m9787627d84d1505a1a4ff5825507569f
  
  Participation in the webinar is highly recommended to clarify any queries related to the interview process.

Impact assessment of administering Oral Cholera Vaccine in selected cholera vulnerable districts of West Bengal.

- An Vaccine implementation Research by ICMR- NICED in collaboration with State Public Health System, Govt of West Bengal.

Cholera remains a global public health problem with developing countries bearing the burnt many folds. WHO - Global Task Force on Cholera Control (GTFCC) has declared to End Cholera by 2030 to which India is also committed as a Nation.

Prevention of Cholera outbreak always remained a challenge in countries like India where there are lots of slum populations with high population density. Achieving cholera control through improving water, hygiene, and sanitation may not be feasible at times and require sustained effort and commitment. In such a situation, the Oral Cholera Vaccine (OCV) is an important intervention to address immediately the cholera outbreak menace.

In this regard, ICMR-NICED Kolkata is taking the initiative through an ICMR-funded project for health system implementation of OCV in selected cholera-vulnerable districts of West Bengal utilizing the state health machinery so that effectiveness, challenges, and future policy decisions on requirements of programmatic introduction of OCV may be monitored from real health system perspective.

Euvichol-Plus is an OCV containing inactivated whole cell (WC) of Vibrio cholerae O1 and O139 as active ingredients. It is very safe and around 65% efficacious as evidenced from earlier Randomized Control Trials. The study vaccine (Euvichol-Plus) has been registered in multiple countries, with WHO prequalification for use in subjects 1 year and above. Euvichol-Plus has been procured from UN agencies at subsidized rate, comprising more than 90% of OCV supply to cholera-endemic countries worldwide.

The primary objective is to evaluate the impact of OCV implementation in cholera-endemic zones of West Bengal in a real time situation through a mass vaccination campaign using the public healthcare delivery system. Other specific research components will also be included, like :

• Age group of target population: children of 1 year and above from cholera-endemic areas, excluding pregnant/lactating women and seriously ill individuals.
• Oral cholera vaccine (OCV), Euvichol-Plus, will be administered through urban municipality primary health centres or other booths at selected Urban wards (areas with dense clusters in city study map above) with a dosing schedule of Day 0 and Day 14, targeting a total population of around 50,000.
• The vaccine, WHO-prequalified in 2017, has demonstrated sufficient safety and immunogenicity.
• Post-vaccination, diarrhoeal disease surveillance network will be in place to monitor and document diarrheal episodes through.

COVID-19 Status Update ICMR-NIRBI

View all updates

Information Regarding Testing of Samples for SARS-CoV-2 in the Emergency Situation
View COVID-19 Guidelines: Information Regarding Testing of Samples for SARS-CoV-2 in the Emergency Situation

Guideline for sending suspected monkey pox samples

View Guideline for sending Monkeypox suspected samples to NICED

ANNEXURE I | ANNEXURE II | ANNEXURE III

About NIRBI

NIRBI moved from the rented premises at No. 3 Kyd Street to its own establishment at P-33, C.I.T. Road, Scheme XM, Beliaghata, Kolkata 700010, adjacent to the Infectious Diseases Hospital. The unique feature of this Institute is that it conducts basic research and applied clinical and epidemiological research on diarrhoeal diseases under the same roof. This Institute has its basic science set up with well equipped, modern technological facilities in different disciplines such as bacteriology, virology, parasitology, biochemistry, pathophysiology, molecular biology, electron microscopy, immunology and biochemistry.  Read more...

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