The first phase of the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) will go operational on October 15, the State government said on Friday. Akhil C. Banerjee will soon take over as the director.
Established under the Kerala Biotechnology Commission, IAV is located at the Bio 360 Life Science Park, Thonnakkal, and is equipped with laboratories and diagnostic facilities for high-end research.
The divisions on clinical virology and viral diagnostics will be operational in the first phase.
Equipment ready
The two new divisions will function in a 25,000 sq ft pre-fab building. Various equipment and facilities required for disease diagnostics, including RT-PCR, gel documentation system, biosafety level cabinets, and nano photometer are ready at the facility, the government said.
In the initial stages, IAV will function under the Science and Technology Department, but it will be developed into an autonomous institution once it is fully operational. The governing council of the institute is headed by the Chief Minister. The government has so far created 18 posts for the institute. In all, eight scientific divisions on various aspects of virology research are envisaged at IAV. It will have research facilities for viral vaccines, anti-viral drug research, viral applications, viral epidemiology vector dynamics and public health, viral genomics, general virology, and bio-informatics and statistics. Eventually, IAV will occupy an 80,000 sq ft building.
