.FIRST INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SEMINAR ON AYURVEDA (IRSA 2014)
The International Research Seminar on Ayurveda (IRSA) was conceived during the 15th International Ayurveda Symposium held at Birstein in 2013. One year of intense planning and preparation by a core group of less than 10 individuals from around the world who met periodically through online conferences resulted in the successful conduct of the First IRSA in 2014. A total of 150 delegates representing 19 countries attended the IRSA, which was held on 14th and 15th of September 2014. A major outcome of IRSA 2014 was the establishment of an IRSA Research Network of individuals and institutions across the globe to promote, initiate and coordinate research activities in line with the White Paper for Ayurveda Research, which is being finalized for publication. About 50 researchers along with at least 10 major international institutions agreed to participate in the IRSA Network. The members of the network formed interest groups in order to develop research projects on selected topics. Led by Ram Manohar MD (Ayu) (India) and Antonio Morandi MD (Italy), with the support of Madan Thangavelu (UK), Tanuja Nesari (India), Anand Dhruva (USA), Jorge Louis Berra (Argentina), Martin Mittwede (Germany), Narayanan Nambi (India) and Mark Rosenberg (Germany), 50 renowned doctors and scientists formed a think tank for setting future directions in Ayurvedic research on a global scale. Among them were Prof. Horst Przuntek MD (Ruhr University of Bochum/EvK Hospital Hattingen, Germany), Prof. Paolo Robert di Sarsina MD (Director of the Committee for Coordination and Consensus in CAM, Italy), Prof. Antonella delle Fave MD (University of Milan, Italy), Prof. Valdis Pirags (University of Latvia), Prof. Torkel Falkenberg MD (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden). The thematic discussion on “Mental Health in Ayurveda” explored the Western and Indian approaches to mental health. Several meeting points of these two approaches were identified in the course of the deliberations, to initiate dialogues between practitioners of the two systems and to integrate perspectives on Mental Health in Ayurveda and Indian tradition into the mainstream. Prof. Antonella delle Fave (University of Milan, Italy), Dr. Matthijs Cornellison (Indian Psychology Institute, Puducherry, India), Dr. Abhimanyu Kumar (Director of Central Council for Research in Ayurveda, India) delivered talks in this session chaired by Dr. Antonio Morandi (Director, Ayurvedic Point, Italy). This session was made lively by intense discussions. Thought provoking lectures were given by Prof. Torkel Falkenberg (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden), Prof. Bernard Uehleke (Charite Medical University, Berlin, Germany) and Prof. Martin Mittwede (Rosenberg European Academy of Ayurveda, Germany) during the special IRSA evening session on “Discovering Ayurveda and Traditional Systems of Medicine – Intercultural Perspectives” chaired by Dr. Vanitha Muralikumar (President, Central Council of Indian Medicine, India). Authors of six abstracts were shortlisted to make a presentation during IRSA 2014. At the closure of the conference, junior scientist Sriranjini Jaideep was awarded a research prize for her study “Effect of Ayurveda on recovery in pakṣaghāta (stroke) ‐ a clinical and electrophysiological assessment.” Out of 150 abstracts submitted, a committee of experts assessed her study to be the best. All the six authors were fully sponsored to attend IRSA 2014 to present the results of their research. A meeting of the Core Committee members was held immediately after the First IRSA on 16th September 2015 at Birstein, Germany. It was decided that the 2nd International Research Seminar on Ayurveda (IRSA 2015) will be conducted again at European Academy of Ayurveda, Birstein, Germany along with the 17th International Ayurveda Symposium |
SECOND INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SEMINAR ON AYURVEDA (IRSA 2015)
The second IRSA was held on 20-21st September 2015, following the 17th International Symposium on Ayurveda, in the new fantastic venue of the European Academy of Ayurveda. Considering the organizational as well as logistic difficulties that IRSA has faced in the last year and the absence of some of the key members, the meeting has been a success beyond expectation. The event was chaired by Dr. Antonio Morandi, MD and Prof. Martin Mittwede, PhD. The most important issues to propel the initiative into the future have been discussed, as summarized below: 1. NAME CHANGE It has been proposed and decided to change the name of IRSA to INDRA standing for International Network for Development of Research in Ayurveda. Since the network had been established it was inappropriate to call it by the name of a Seminar. Moreover, INDRA represents the state of mind for discovery of the foundational concepts and principles of Ayurveda. A new logo will be created for INDRA. 2. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IRSA was the child of the momentum, it had a great impulse, but in order to have a defined and solid action we need to have a more structured organisation. This does not mean that in the meanwhile INDRA will stop, all the activities will go on an the transition phase will be facilitated by Dr. Antonio Morandi, Prof. Martin Mittwede, Dr. Ram Manohar and Prof. Rajesh Kotecha. These 4 people will be the reference persons of INDRA in this transition phase. Mark Rosenberg will take care of organisational matters. 3. STUDY GROUPS Since the aim of INDRA is to facilitate the research networking and organization it will be crucial to identify areas of interest in order to develop themes and discussion. The Study Groups that have been proposed are the following 3.1 BASIC SCIENCE - i.e. research on Ayurveda localization, epistemological interfacing, Collaborative Medicine and Science. 3.2 CLINICAL SCIENCE - i.e. definition of clinical criteria according to the tradition of Ayurveda, definition of novel concepts of clinical study protocols, interfacing Ayurvedic and modern medicine clinical concepts 3.3 SOCIAL MEDICINE & HEALTH CARE ECONOMICS - i.e. economical evaluation of health care cost, pharmaco-economy, public health management and education The structured organization of the Study Groups will be defined in the next weeks and sent to the INDRA members along with the subscription form. 4. WEB PAGE It has been proposed to construct an INDRA web page where it will be possible to publish Research News and Opportunities in order to facilitate the exchange of ideas, resources and the creation of new synergies. Moreover it will be the crossroad of the Study Groups activities. 5. WHITE PAPER The White Paper that derived from the last IRSA and subsequent interactions constitute the “manifesto” of IRSA/INDRA and it has needed several rearrangement in order to represent other than track to be followed also a practical tool. It is almost in its final form. It will be submitted for publication in the next weeks. This year the first prize of IRSA Award for Best Scientific Paper has been awarded to Dr. Dacia Dalla Libera, MD for her outstanding neurological clinical trial on stroke patient with aphasia treated with Ayurveda (Ayurveda helps in regaining language function and neural network balance in post-stroke aphasic patients) The IRSA Expert Forum was characterized by two important lectures: “How to design Ayurvedic clinical studies" by Prof. Valdis Pirags and “Ayurveda research, perspectives from India" by Prof. Tanuja Nesari MD (Ayu). It was decided that the next edition of IRSA now known as INDRA will be held in Milan, Italy along with the 3rd edition of the International Congress of Ayurveda - Ayurveda, the meaning of life both organized by Ayurvedic Point with the partnership of the Ashtavaidyan Thrissur Thaikat Mooss’ SNA Oushadhasala and Unnimooss Foundation, Thrissur, Kerala, India |
THIRD INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SEMINAR ON AYURVEDA (INDRA 2016)
This report is under preparation. |