Bengaluru – 25 Nov 2023
The 62nd Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Aerospace Medicine (ISAM) was held at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Bengaluru from 23 to 25 November 2023. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Aerospace Medicine: Strength, Support & Solution’. Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force, inaugurated the Conference on 23 November 2023. The CAS, in his inaugural address, acknowledged the contribution of all veterans of ISAM and emphasised on its close partnership with IAF.
The Conference was hybrid in nature wherein about 200 delegates participated physically and about 100 delegates attended online. Air Marshal R Radhish, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Training Command, Director General of Medical Services (Air) and senior officers from Headquarters Training Command participated in the event, alongside Directors of various prestigious scientific institutes located in Bengaluru.
The Conference had various distinguished orations. The prestigious Subroto Mukherjee Memorial Oration was instituted in 1972 in honour of Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee, the first Indian Chief of the Air Staff. Various eminent personalities like Dr Raja Ramanna, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Shri Madhavan Nair, Dr Naresh Trehan, and Wg Cdr Rakesh Sharma (Retd) have delivered this oration in the past. This year’s Subroto Mukerjee Memorial Oration was delivered by Dr Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani, Indian cricketer on “Playing International Sports for Two Decades- What it takes!”
The Air Vice Marshal Srinagesh Memorial Oration, instituted in the honour of Air Vice Marshal MM Srinagesh, an illustrious luminary in the field of Aviation Medicine and popularly known as the ‘Father of Aviation Medicine’ was delivered by Air Marshal Pawan Kapoor (Retd), former Director General Medical Services (Air) on “Patient Safety: Drawing Lessons from Aerospace Safety”. The JHF Manekshaw panel discussion was conducted by two eminent speakers; Mr Srikanth Kondapalli, Dean, School of International Studies and Professor of China Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on “Psychological Warfare of China” and Air Vice Marshal Deepak Gaur (Retd), former Principal Medical Officer, Training Command and Commandant, Command Hospital Air Force, Bengaluru (CHAFB) on “OPTRAM- The evolution of a Revolution”.
During the Conference, a series of meticulously planned scientific sessions and panel discussions covered a wide variety of topics. These included aerospace physiology, clinical and operational aerospace medicine, human in space programme, civil aviation medicine, and aeromedical decision making. In addition, the Conference provided an excellent opportunity for interactive sessions, discussion and deliberations. The exchange of information, ideas and expertise in this forum will go a long way in steering the direction of research in the aerospace domain.
