By Anuj Bhalla,CHANDIGARH- March 26, 2012: The Training School on the theme “Pharmacognosy – Shapingthe Drug Discovery in New Millennium” commenced at UIPS, Panjab University underUGC Networking programme for pharmacy teachers. “20 mid-level faculty members,representing 10 different states of India with teaching experience upto 10 years, havebeen selected from varied pharmacy colleges across the country. A rationale for the success of natural products research in providing new drugs and drug prototypes will be the focus of the training course, drawing on lines of evidence from chemicalinformatics and chemical ecology.
Several innovative strategies for natural productsdrug discovery and evaluation of botanical medicines will also be discussed, said theCoordinator, UGC Training School, Dr Anupam Sharma.The Programme was inaugurated by Prof. K. K. Bhutani, Director, NIPER, Mohali atGolden Jubilee Conference Hall, Panjab University, and he was also the Chief Guest onthe occasion. In his Inaugural address, he gave a detailed overview on the innovationsfor shaping the Drug Discovery Development (DDD) pipeline with bioactive compounds.
Professor Karan Vasisht, Professor of Pharmacognosy, held an interactive session on general method of extraction techniques, phytochemical studies and analysis of isolated compounds. In the afternoon session, wet lab was conducted by Dr Maninder Karan, Co-coordinator of the training course. During the programme, Prof. Harkishan Singh, Professor Emeritus, UIPS was the Guest ofHonour on the occasion. Prof. V. R. Sinha, Chairperson, UIPS & Programme Coordinator gave the presidential remarks.