The first meeting on Current Trends in Translational Research (CTTR-2023) concluded on 27th September at PGIMER, Chandigarh, organized by the Department of Translational & Regenerative Medicine. The programme began with a welcome by Dr. Aruna Rakha and an introduction to 3D bioprinting, emphasizing its clinical applications. We had talks from experts, that is Dr. Mukesh Gupta from NIT Rourkela and Piyush Padnabham from NIBL, Bengaluru, on 3D bioprinting. We had some more talks, followed by a workshop on 3D bioprinting emphasizing the role of bioprinting in meeting clinical needs in hospital-based systems like PGIMER. 3D bioprinting is already practiced in many hospitals to aid in surgical planning, such as in orthopaedic surgeries; 3D (bio)printing has the potential for so much more. It is extensively used in disease modelling, but researchers and engineers are working hard and anticipate that it can be the tool to solve the donor shortage problem by 3D bioprinting new organs in the future. The next day started with an introduction to sequencing by Dr. Anupam Mittal and its application in modern-day high-throughput sequencing. It was followed by an exciting workshop on Sequencing techniques and their application as a research tool. In the afternoon, the symposium was inaugurated by Dr. RK Ratho, Sub-Dean (Research), and other dignitaries. The programme had exciting lectures on translational research by eminent scientists like Prof. Amit Awasthi and Dr. Santosh Mahapati from Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, who emphasized various aspects of clinically translational research applicable in the field of in vitro fertilisation, ophthalmology, COVID-19, and liver diseases.

The convenors of CTTR ’23 – Dr. Aruna Rakha, Dr. Anupam Mittal & Dr. Gaurav Sharma were immensely appreciated for putting up a wonderful scientific session which had utmost translational value, bringing research from bench to bedside. The faculty of the department aspires to make the Department of Translational and Regenerative Medicine a centre where they can move their research findings into therapeutics and to consider the insights from clinicians that are shaped into questions answered at the bench and within the clinical research environment.