Union human resources development (HRD) minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has lauded the IIT Guwahati researchers for their innovations to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

While sharing a video on his Twitter handle on Friday, Nishank said: “@IITGuwahati is with #India in its #fightagainstcorona! Take a look at the video to know about their various ongoing projects & researches.”

“I admire the talented team headed by Prof. Dr. T. G. Sitharam, Director – IIT Guwahati. Great job!”

According to the video, the IIT Guwahati researchers have developed peptide-based Elisa for the detection of SARS-Cov-2 from the serum samples understanding the spike protein of SARS-Cov-2 for identifying the biometer against its infection.

The institute’s researchers have also designed low-cost face shields as an effective PPE COVID-19 transmission and respiratory venture mask valve for COVID-19 patients.

They have produced the compostable plastic masks and multi-layer surgical masks needed for biomedical application.

IIT Guwahati innovators have developed no-contact infrared (IR) human fever tester and room enclosure to spray disinfectant to the health workers.

The institute’s researchers have come in the good book of Union minister Nishank for their development of robotic cart for safe delivery of food, medicine in isolation wards and for safe disposal of medical waste.

The IITG team has also prepared a disease management manual for the primary health centres (PHCs) and hospitals.

The team also re-purposed FDA drugs and exploitation of ancient Ayurvedic knowledge to discover novel inhibitors to block coronavirus propagation.

They are also working on local home delivery networks and modeling of the COVID virus etimology using the tools of biophysics.

The researchers’ team is also formulating Ribswitch POCT diagnostics kits for specific and simultaneous detection of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

The HRD Ministry salutes the talented people of IIT Guwahati who are involved in the innovative projects.

The team, led by IIT Guwahati director Prof T.G. Sitharam, includes Dr Sachin Kumar, Supradip Das, Dr Vimal Katiyar, Dr Sajan Kapil, Dr Shrikrishna N. Joshi, Dr Rishikesh Kulkarni, Dr Mahima Arrawatia and R. Ganesh Narayanan.

The other researchers are Dr S.K. Dwivedy, Dr Swapnil Sinha, Sahil Jagnani, Prof Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, Prof. Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh, Vishal Trivedi, Dr Sataadal Saha, Girish Sampath Setlur, Dr Prithwijit Guha and many others.