Higher Education Minister R. Bindu will inaugurate a new Small Animal House at the Inter University Centre for Biomedical Research and Super Specialty Hospital (IUCBR & SSH) on the Thalappadi campus of Mahatma Gandhi University.According to university officials, the inauguration is scheduled for September 26. The facility will be the second-largest Small Animal Research Centre in Kerala, after the one at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram. Equipped with modern cages, animal behavioural research instruments and advanced biomedical infrastructure, it can accommodate up to 2,000 mice and 2,000 rats.In addition, the university is preparing to launch a state-of-the-art water testing facility to detect pathogens responsible for amaebic encephalitis. The Amoebic Research and Diagnostic Centre, established under the IUCBR & SSH, will be inaugurated by Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan.MGU Vice-Chancellor C.T. Aravind Kumar said that currently confirmatory testing for amoebic encephalitis was available in the State only at the Public Health Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram. The new facility would focus on detecting pathogens such as Naegleria fowleri, Acanthamoeba spp., and Balamuthia mandrillaris, the causative organisms. Published - September 22, 2025 07:28 pm IST