Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine conference concludes

Bengaluru: The two-day 59 annual conference of Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine concluded on Saturday at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Bengaluru. The theme of the conference was 'Extraordinary Times: Changing Aeromedical Paradigms'. Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Chief of the Air Staff, inaugurated the conference on November 20. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference was hybrid in nature with 75 delegates present at the institute and about 200 delegates participating online.

Air Marshal RD Mathur, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services, Director General of Medical Services (Air) and senior officers from Head Quarter Training Command participated in the event besides directors of various prestigious scientific institutes located in Bangalore.

The conference had two orations. The prestigious 'Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Memorial Oration' was delivered online by Dr Scott A Shappel, Professor and Chair of Human Factors & Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology from the US. This prestigious oration was instituted in 1972 in honour of the first Indian Chief of the Air Staff of Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee. Various eminent personalities like Dr Raja Ramanna, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Madhavan Nayar, Dr Naresh Trehan and Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma (Retired) have given this oration in the past.

The 'Air Vice Marshal Srinagesh Memorial Oration' was delivered by Wing Commander (Dr) SN Sharma (Retired), Senior Cardiologist, Badr AI Sama Hospital, Muscat, Oman. Air Vice Marshal MM Srinagesh, is popularly known as the 'Father of Aviation Medicine' in India for his contribution in the field of Aerospace Medicine.

The JHF Manekshaw panel discussion was conducted by two eminent speakers. Dr Lalitambika, Director, Directorate of Human Space Programme, Indian Space Research Organisation deliberated on the design philosophy of the human space programme. The second speaker, Dr Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and Director, Dept of Biotechnology, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platform, Bangalore deliberated on objective assessment of aircrew fatigue.

A series of planned scientific sessions and panel discussions covered topics including Aerospace Physiology, Clinical and Operational Aerospace Medicine, Humans in Space Programme, Civil Aviation Medicine, and Aero-medical Decision Making. In addition, the conference provided an opportunity for interactive sessions, discussion and deliberations.