6th Biennial International Conference on ‘New development in drug discovery from natural products and traditional medicines (DDNPTM-2018) inaugurated today at NIPER, SAS Nagar.
The inaugural was initiated by lamp lighting ceremony following the Sarswati Vandana.
Prof. Sanjay Jachak, Convenor and In-charge of Department of Natural Products welcomed all the distinguished guests and participants. He informed the delegates about the history of DDNPTM conference. DDNPTM conference was first organized in 2008 and since then five more DDNPTM conferences have been organized respectively in 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 and this is the 6th international DDNPTM conference by the Department of Natural Products.
Director, Prof. Raghuram Rao Akkinepally welcomed all the dignitaries and explained the proclaimed objectives of the institute. He made the audiences aware about NIPER achievements and current translational research activities. He informed the gathering that NIPER is having its 2300 publications, 186 patents filed, 64 patents granted and 7 technologies have been licensed.
Dr. Acharan Narula, Founder & Chairman of Narula, USA, the chief guest inaugurated the conference. Organizing Secretary Dr. I.P. Singh introduced the chief guest Dr. Acharan Narula to the audiences. Dr. Narula delivered the plenary lecture on Inflammation, immunology and cancer. During his lecture he narrated when every option is exhausted in treating inflammation and cancer, botanicals/herbals can help in alleviating symptoms of these diseases. He also explained about benefits of wonder tree, Neem which is very beneficial for treating ulcers in human bodies and explained the usage of many medicinal plants to cure the inflammation. In the end Dr. Narula praised the efforts made by Prof. Sanjay Jachak, Convenor and Prof. I. P. Singh,Organizing Secretary in organizing such as wonderful conference and urged the participants to take full advantage of the conference.
During inaugural function Prof. Park, Shizuoka University, Japan was felicitated by The Director, NIPER as he was instrumental in signing MoU between NIPER and Shizuoka University. Five more professors apart from Prof. Park are attending this event as resource persons. An MoU was signed between NIPER and Shizuoka University to promote academic exchanges and collaborative research. This MoU was listed at Sr. No. 18 among the ‘List of Announcements/Agreement signed between India and Japan’ during the visit of Honorable Prime Minister to Japan on October 29, 2018.
Around 210 national & international registered participants are attending the conference. About 29 well-known scientists and speakers of international repute from abroad (06 from Japan, 06 from China and 02 USA) as well as India will be delivering the lectures during this conference. Apart from these lectures, 15 oral presentations by young scientists/researchers, 116 poster presentations by PhD and Masters Students is also part of scientific program of this conference.
Posters will be evaluated by the experts and first three winners will be felicitated with cash prize and certificate. It is an excellent opportunity for the young scientists to present posters. The interactive sessions, brain storming discussions and different symposia will provide ample opportunities for further networking and brainstorming. There will be about 5 exhibition stalls in the conference.
One day Mini symposium on Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda has also been arranged on 16.11.2018 and includes 5 presentations by experts of Ayurveda and TCM followed by panel discussion. The conference aims to provide scientists and executives from academia, and pharmaceutical companies, with the detailed information on drug discovery and development from natural products and traditional medicines. It is providing a platform for networking international and national researchers and pharma industry to derive the benefits of Natural Products and Traditional Medicine. The conference has comprehensive coverage of 10 different scientific aspects of natural product-based drug discovery.
The scientific topics that are being discussed and deliberated are discovery of new biological pathways; New/novel chemical entities as lead scaffolds; nutraceuticals and functional foods; infectious & parasitic diseases; life-style and metabolic disorders; oncology; marine natural products; synthesis of bioactive natural products; In-silico approaches are being covered in the conference.
At the end of the inaugural Dr. I.P. Singh, Organizing Secretary delivered the vote of thanks.The three-day conference is a good opportunity for highlighting new products and recent technologies.
