The 5th Annual National Convention of Indian Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and Technologists (IAPST) was recently held at Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, Karnataka. The one-day event had interesting lectures delivered on Regulatory Issues, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Technology, Continuing Pharmacy Education, Cosmetic Technology and Novel Drug Delivery Systems.
Dr N Udupa, Principal, (Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences) MCOPS welcomed the delegates. M Sudhakar (Phillips India), Dr MD Burande, Dr AC Banerjee, Dr Biswajit Mukherjee, Dr Madhusudan Rao, Dr Saleemulla Khan (Assistant Professor, MCOPS) and Dr Anantha Naik (Professor, MCOPS) were the resource persons who delivered lectures.
Dr MS Valiathan, Former Vice Chancellor, Manipal University, made a fervent plea to the pharmaceutical and research scientists to strive collectively for generating innovative ideas for research. He identified three areas of deficit in drug discovery and development, namely, innovation, regulatory control and ethics. He lamented that unlike China which developed artemisinin as an effective antimalarial drug, India has not produced a novel drug in the last fifty years. His advice to the young scientists was to nurture innovative ideas for research.
Dr Himadri Sen, a former research director of Ranbaxy Laboratories said that while India is doing well in pharma industry, we are not on the frontline in drug discovery and development. This lacuna must be addressed through concerted research efforts.
IAPST awards were given during the inaugural function. Burande got the Pharmaceutical Professional of the Year Award and Rao secured the Pharmaceutical Scientist of the Year award. Banerjee in his presidential address called for excellence in research, which would help in global competitiveness. Teachers, research scholars, postgraduate and undergraduate students put up posters to present their research findings.
A panel of experts evaluated these posters. Prizes were awarded for the best three posters. The first prize went to LS Vijapur and S A Sreenivas for their poster on “Thiolated Chitosan- a vehicle for mucoadhesive drug delivery system”. The poster titled, “A survey conducted through social media sites and outcomes analysis producing various strategic results to quit smoking”, authored by Rishab Chug, Janki Chauhan, A Priyendu and Anantha Naik Nagappa secured the second prize. “Chitosan- curcumin complex soft tissue scaffold for tissue engineering application” bagged the third prize. Muthukumar, N Udupa and SS Mutalik were the authors for this poster. A consolation prize was given to the poster – Image analysis as a tool for photosynthetic categorisation of related orchids. Meenakshi Vanathi, C S Sreedhara, J Venkata Rao and N Udupa were the authors for this poster.
Dr Manthan Janodia conducted the inaugural function as the MC. Dr J Venkata Rao proposed a vote of thanks. Dr N Udupa was in charge of the valedictory function.
EP News Bureau
