Since time immemorial, eastern India, notably the Gangetic delta is considered as the “homeland” of cholera and a focal point of many of the epidemics and most of the pandemics. More than a century and a half have elapsed since Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, was first described by Filippo Pacini and its water borne transmission was demonstrated by John Snow. In 1883, Robert Koch visualized the organism in Alexandria, Egypt and subsequently cultured it in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata). Nearly 70 years later, the toxin that caused cholera was discovered in India by S.N. De in Kolkata and by N.K. Dutta in Bombay (now known as Mumbai). The studies of De and Dutta, in effect, also proved Koch’s postulate by replicating the disease in an animal model and revived the research interest in cholera. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) decided to establish “Cholera Research Centre” in Calcutta in 1962 to research on the prevention and control of cholera and other diarrhoeal diseases. The Centre initiated a number of clinical trials for evaluation of newer therapeutic methods, two cholera vaccine field trials in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, cholera carriers, serological and chemoprophylaxis studies. In 1968, the Centre was given the status of “International Reference Centre for Vibrio Phage Typing” by the WHO in 1968 following the outstanding studies of S. Mukherjee in Kolkata and later on, in 1978, it was designated as the “WHO Collaborative Centre for Reference and Research on Vibrios” in 1978. With the advancement in biotechnology, improved diagnostic procedures and discovery of a large number of pathogenic enteric micro-organisms during 1970s, this Centre also expanded its activities which motivated ICMR to elevate this Centre into a full fledged research establishment with the status of a “National Institute” and renamed it as “National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases” (NICED) in 1979. The WHO recognized this Institute as “WHO Collaborative Centre for Research and Training on Diarrhoeal Diseases” in 1980.