DIMAPUR —Dr. Ethungshan Shitiri of Okotso village and a resident of Dimapur has been awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship from the European Commission with a grant seed of EUR 165,000 for two years.
This grant will fund Dr. Shitiri as the principal investigator for the innovative BeNiFIt Project, a DIPR report stated.
“The BeNiFIt Project seeks to transform healthcare by introducing intra-body nanoscale communications (IBNC). This technology utilises nanomachines that are deployed into the bloodstream to detect disease biomarkers with unprecedented accuracy and speed.
“The aim is to significantly reduce economic costs and eliminate delays in the early detection of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s. BeNiFIt’s groundbreaking approach will offer real-time data transmission from within the bloodstream to medical professionals or directly to patients, potentially revolutionising diagnostic procedures with its minimally invasive yet highly efficient methodology,” the report stated.
In his role as principal investigator, Dr. Shitiri is tasked with pioneering novel IBNC networks within the bloodstream. His responsibilities include designing efficient wireless communication protocols to relay crucial disease information to wearable devices and the internet. Additionally, Dr. Shitiri will mentor PhD and master’s students and disseminate findings through conferences and journal publications.
Currently, Dr. Shitiri leads the Human Body Group at the NaNoNetworking Centre of Catalunya (N3Cat) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona Tech).
Dr. Shitiri has an impressive record of over 25 scientific publications and has co-authored a book chapter. His work focuses on energy-efficient protocols, resource management, and nanonetworks.
Dr. Shitiri’s research collaborations extend to notable institutions like LUT Sweden, Boğaziçi University Turkey, IIT-Patna, NTNU Norway, and IBEC Spain, it stated.
