Union Minister of Science & Technology (S&T) Dr Jitendra Singh launched Indo-French Liver and Metabolic Disease Network (InFLiMeN), a virtual node to prevent and cure metabolic liver diseases at Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi, on 5 July.

Addressing the launch programme Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted that the Indo-French Node, InFLiMeN, aims to address key issues related to a common metabolic liver disorder, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress to cirrhosis and primary liver cancer eventually. It predates diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and many other diseases.

Dr Jitendra Singh advised that a joint multi-disciplinary collaborative program like InFLiMeN is urgently needed to understand the development, progression and possible management of liver diseases using a comprehensive omics approach for biomarker discovery.

He also appreciated Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST) along with the department and Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPERA) for taking this novel approach proposed by ILBS.