This is HLF’s 15th edition and the second year with a dedicated stream that brings together science and culture. Over three days, the sessions will build on the theme of a city of science and technology. Does the city effectively utilize the fruits of its investments in science? How does it foster building a culture of science and technology that generates knowledge and empowers us to participate in it as citizens? What role does Hyderabad’s culture play in enabling such an environment? And most importantly, in today’s age who are the innovators whose work impacts and inspires us? Pause, think, and interrogate the pursuit of science in the city of Hyderabad.

Some highlights:

• Soumya Swaminathan, former Chief Scientist at WHO and Nandita Venkatesan, journalist and antimicrobial resistance survivor, will be in conversation with Sarah Hyder Iqbal, co-founder of Superheroes against Superbugs on antimicrobial resistance and how fighting this public health crisis requires people to come together and create their own solutions.
• Gautam Bhatia, constitutional lawyer and science fiction writer, and Appupen, graphic artist, will discuss the role of Science Fiction in imagining the world; in a conversation with Jaideep Unudurti, who writes on popular culture and reviews books for leading publications including The Hindu.
• Ganesh Bagler, Professor and computational gastronomist at the Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence, IIIT Delhi and Ruby Islam, chocolatier at Hyderabad’s very own Manam Chocolate will take us through the future of food with Meenakshi J, a freelance Science and Food journalist.
• Subba Rao M Gavaravarapu, Scientist and Head of Nutrition information at the NIN and the author of the Nutritional Atlas of India; with Latha Sashi, Chief Nutritionist & Head, Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics at the Fernandez Hospital will discuss the nutritional status of India and help sift through the nutritional misinformation with Meenkakshi J.
• Indumathi Mariappan, stem cell scientist at the LV Prasad Eye Institute and Arkasubhra Ghosh, clinician scientist at the Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital will talk about the way ahead in gene therapies and India’s role in this exciting sector.
• Dinesh Sharma, journalist and author of Beyond Biryani – The Making of a Globalised Hyderabad and Aparajith Ramnath, author of Engineering a Nation: A Biography of Sri M Visvesvaraya will discuss with Usha Raman, Professor, University of Hyderabad on what makes the cities that build technology.
• GV Prasad, co-chairperson and Managing Director, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Anand Kumar, Managing Director, Indian Immunologicals Ltd will take us through the legacy of pharmaceutical industry in Hyderabad and what it takes to build enterprises from science ideas with Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, Chairperson and CEO, IKP Knowledge Park.
• Pankaj Sekhsaria, author of ‘First Steps: Citizen Science in Ecology in India’ and curator of ‘The Great Nicobar Betrayal’; Niruj Mohan, Head of the Science Communication, Public Outreach, and Education at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics; will talk to Anusheela Chatterjee, science writer and science communication lead at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research-Hyderabad.
• Priyanka Srivastava, cognitive scientist at IIIT-H and Shrikant Bharadwaj, vision scientist at LVPEI will interpret art by Priyanka Aelay and Sameera Madhuravada aka saltandsambar. Together, they will bring their scientific and artistic perspectives to interpret art and its affect.