The COMSTECH Fellowships Program for Research and Advanced Training in Virology and Vaccine Technologies has granted these fellowships.
Ten scholarships in the fields of virology and vaccine technology have been given to academics from eight OIC member states: Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uganda, Iran, Jordan, and Kazakhstan. The fellowship awards event took place on Thursday at Jakarta’s Ministry of Health.
The COMSTECH Fellowships Program for Research and Advanced Training in Virology and Vaccine Technologies has granted these fellowships. The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia, Bio- Farma, Universitas Padjadjaran (UNPAD) and Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), as well as the Indonesian Embassy in Pakistan, collaborated on the initiative.
H. E. Ambassador Askar Mussinov, Assistant Secretary General (S&T) OIC, Coordinator General COMSTECH, Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, Director General for Multilateral Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia, and Director General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia, gave speeches during the award ceremony.
Askar Mussinov, assistant secretary general and OIC for science and technology, praised the idea. He was grateful to COMSTECH’s leadership for creating such fellowship programs to help OIC member states improve their S&T capabilities. He promised COMSTECH programs will be supported.
Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary, the Coordinator General of COMSTECH, greeted the attendees to the event and expressed his happiness that the program had been operating successfully for two years in a row.
He mentioned that eight OIC member nations were represented this year, and they would be taking use of Republic of Indonesia’s expertise in virology and vaccine technology. These participants, according to him, include researchers in public health, virologists, and early career scientists.
Prof. Choudhary claims that the Indonesian Ministries of Health and Foreign Affairs, Bio-Farma, UNPAD and UNAIR, and the Indonesian Embassy in Pakistan are all partners in this scheme.
Prof. Choudhary expressed his sincere thanks to H.E. Adam Tugio, the Indonesian ambassador to Pakistan, for his arduous efforts in making this program feasible as well as to the MoH, Indonesia, for arranging this significant endeavor in the vital fields of viral disease monitoring and epidemic/pandemic preparation.
Prof. Choudhary claims that the purpose of these scholarships is to enhance the talents of talented researchers, particularly those who are just beginning their careers. This is accomplished by offering support to beneficiaries in forging connections that will result in later partnerships in the areas of virology and vaccine development.
He claims that this initiative gives OIC Member states the opportunity to work together on virology and vaccine technologies in order to meet their respective and collective SDG objectives for national health.
H.E. Amb. On hand for the event were Mr. Adam Tugio, the ambassadors of the OIC member countries, as well as officials from UNPAD, UNAIR, and BioFarma.