Seminar venue
On July 15, 2026, the “Health Sciences Evening Seminar by Visiting Scholars from India” was held at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Health Sciences, welcoming researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras through JST’s LOTUS Programme.
The LOTUS Programme promotes joint research and talent exchange between universities and research institutions in Japan and India. The Integrated URA Office provided support in preparing applications, and several research projects from Hokkaido University were selected. Through these projects, collaborative research with Indian researchers and exchanges among early-career researchers are progressing.
A Wide Range of Health-Related Research
A total of five Indian researchers and principal investigators gave presentations on a wide range of health-related topics, including stress assessment combining gaze and physiological signals, forecasting health burdens associated with air quality, aeroallergens, and urban heat, indoor air quality management, the identification of natural products from myxobacterial genomes, and the evolution of cell-surface polysaccharides.
The presentations highlighted different approaches to health challenges and prompted questions and discussion among the researchers, students, faculty, and staff in attendance.
Networking over Indian Snacks
After the presentations, participants gathered over Indian snacks. Discussions extended beyond the research topics to research environments and future collaboration, providing an opportunity to strengthen connections between researchers from Japan and India.
The seminar is expected to further advance collaboration between the Faculty of Health Sciences and universities and research institutions in India, leading to future joint research and researcher exchanges.
Event Information
Title：Health Sciences Evening Seminar by Visiting Scholars from India
Date and Time：July 15, 2026, 4:30–7:00 p.m.
Venue：Large Meeting Room, 6th Floor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University
Organizer：Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University
Presentation Topics
- Multimodal Gaze and Physiological Signal Fusion for Robust Stress Assessment in Real-World Assistive Systems
Pavan Kumar Kavet（IIT Hyderabad） - Developing a Multi-Modal Decision Support System for Forecasting Health Burden from Air Quality, Aeroallergens, and Urban Heat
Aswin Giri J（IIT Madras） - Engineering solutions to indoor air quality management
Shiva Nagendra（IIT Madras） - Computational identification of novel natural products from myxobacterial genomes
Gyanesh Shukla（IIT Hyderabad） - From Known Pathways to Hidden Capsules: Evolution of Cell Surface Polysaccharides in Myxobacteria
Gaurav Sharma（IIT Hyderabad）
Scenes from the Seminar
Research presentation
Group photograph of participants
Related Links
・JST LOTUS Programme: About
・Faculty of Health Sciences: Report on the 4th Health Sciences Seminar 2026 (Japanese)