Chandigarh February 14, 2022

University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Panjab University inaugurated a one-week long (February 14 to 19) web faculty training school under the initiative of UGC Networking Resource Centre (UGC-NRC), on “Emerging Trends and Alternatives in Pharmacological Research” for pharma faculty and researchers across the country.

A total of 147 participants were selected among over 172 applicants for training, hailing from various Colleges/Universities, representing 20 different states of India and 2 from abroad. The course intends to apprise and train young researchers about emerging tools, techniques and various alternatives to animals in pharmacological research.

Professor Raj Kumar, Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh presided over the function and addressed the audience. He urged pharma researchers and professionals to revisit the adopted methodologies and mindset in a better way, to serve the society. The abstract booklets of the current and previous training course were also released by worthy Vice Chancellor.

Professor Indu Pal Kaur, Chairperson, UIPS and Program Coordinator extended a cordial welcome to the audience and apprised them about the UGC Networking Resource Centre Program.

Professor Anil Kumar, Course Coordinator, 31^st UGC-NRC summarized about the course content to the participants.

Professor Kanwaljit Chopra, Former Chairperson, UIPS introduced the Chief Guest.

Chief Guest of the occasion, Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, Secretary-cum-Scientific Director, Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India gave a very lucid account of Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission and its role in successfully running the Pharmacovigilance Program of India (PvPI), thus ensuring patient care and safety. Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission is a separate, dedicated, autonomous institution created by the Govt. of India to deal with matters relating to timely publication of the Indian Pharmacopoeia, official book of standards for drug. Dr Raghuvanshi urged the audience to actively participate in the adverse event reporting of drugs and medical devices, as lack of reporting is one of the major challenges in Pharmacovigilance Program.

Dr Raghuvanshi is a highly accomplished persona with 14 granted US patents; >250 published PCTs and Indian patents; >25 publications in peer reviewed journals and has co-authored 6 chapters in books. He has >200 products developed by him and his teams which are currently being sold in India, US Europe and emerging markets. Leadership development has been his passion and many of his team members mentored by him are holding leadership roles in Indian and global pharmaceutical companies.

The inaugural session concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Anurag Kuhad, Joint Course Coordinator.

More than 330 members joined the Inauguration including distinguished guests, eminent speakers, PU & UIPS faculty and participants joined the inauguration.

Earlier, the day started with an ice breaking session by the Course Coordinators followed by a lecture on “Ocular Delivery: Opportunities and Scope” by Professor Indu Pal Kaur, Program Coordinator, UGC-NRC; Chairperson & Professor of Pharmaceutics, UIPS, Panjab University, Chandigarh. The post-tea session covered an informative recorded talk by Dr Vijay Pal Singh, Assistant Professor, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) & Veterinarian (STO), CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhion “Design of Animal Experiment: Welfare as a top priority”. The post lunch sessions were by Mr Muktesh Sharma, Assistant Manager, AD Instruments South Asia (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi on “Online demonstration of the Powerlab System and techniques”; DrNeeraj Kumar Singh, Deputy Librarian, Readers’ Services, A C Joshi Library, Panjab University, Chandigarh on “Research visibility and measuring Impact of Scientific research // Research Support Tools for faculty” and Professor Kanwaljit Chopra, Professor & Head, Pharmacology & Former Chairperson, UIPS, Panjab University, Chandigarh on “Preclinical Evaluation of Nutraceuticals in Diverse Pathologies: A Pharmacologist’s Narrative”

UIPS is the first and the only Pharmacy Institute in the country selected by MHRD for creating UGC Networking Resource Centre to promote and foster research and academics in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences by training young pharma professionals, across the nation.