JAMMU: Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space and +Vice President CSIR inaugurated the “International Conference on Traditional Medicine and Phytopharmaceuticals” and the “11th International Congress of Society of Ethnopharmacology (SFEC2024) today at CSIR Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu.
The Conference is organized by CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, in collaboration with the Society of Ethnopharmacology (SFE), Kolkata from 16th to 18th February, 2024, on the theme “Ethnopharmacology in Development of Phytopharmaceutical Drugs”
The inaugural session of the conference was presided over by Dr. Jitendra Singh who was the Chief Guest at the event. Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General CSIR and Secretary DSIR and Padma Shri Prof. Vinod K. Singh, IIT Kanpur were the Guests of Honour. Present at the session were also Dr. Pulok K. Mukherjee, Director IBSD and Chairman, Scientific Services, SFEC-2024, Dr. DS Reddy, Director CSIR-IICT, Dr. CK Katiyar, CEO Emami Healthcare Ltd. , Dr. RN Acharya, Director General CCRAS, Dr. Subhra Chakraborty, Director NIPGR, Dr. Lal Hingorani, Managing Director, Pharmanza Herbal Pvt Ltd., Dr. UV Babu, Director R&D Himalaya Wellness Company, Dr. Marco Leonti, Secretary, International Society of Ethnopharmacology besides several other eminent scientific dignitaries.
Speaking at the event Dr Jitendra Singh informed that CSIR IIIM Jammu assumes a historical significance in light of its services to the society and the poineering research being conducted in this unique geography by the Institute since last more than seven decades. The Institute under the visionary founding Director Col. Ram Nath Chopra achieved several milestones in modern pharmacoepia that were furthered and amplied by successive leaders of the Institute and since last more than one year Dr. Zabeer Ahmed has led his scientist and technologists team at the Institute efficiently in the development of the innovative and novel technologies utilizing the rich bioiversity under a multi-faceted approach to further translate them for societal good and industrial development with multi-institutional convergence.
The Institute has expanded its mandate and outreach with very successfully implemention various mission programmes like CSIR Phyto-pharma Mission, CSIR Aroma Mission, CSIR Floriculture Mission and various other ambitious projects to leverage the plant based pharmaceuticals in drug development, he added. The Institute under pursuing a concerted research on Cannabis to exploit its potential in drug development, also. Dr N Kalaiselvi, DG CSIR while complimenting the organizers of the three day conference informed that the present day need in health care systems and drug formulations demand an integrated approach wherein the manufacturing of the drugs should be in integration with utilization of the natural sources of drug molecules derived from plants.
She emphasized that the conduct of the conference assumes much interest in light of the increased global alignment for use of phytopharmaceuticals. Earlier, Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM in his welcome address informed that the Institute has been spearheading the scientific study, validation, and legalization of phytopharmaceuticals and organizing a conference on the futuristic theme "Ethnopharmacology for Development of Phytopharmaceutical Drugs," represents our collective aspiration to push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation in the realm of research on traditional methods of healthcare and drug development from phytopharmaceuticals. The conference is being held in conjunction with “11th International Congress of the Society for Ethnopharmacology”, and we reaffirm our determination to take a giant leap forward in our pursuit of transformative breakthroughs that will define the future of healthcare, he said.
The conference will have more than 20 scientific sessions, including and IConnect program: Business Meet, on the theme “Development of Phytopharmaceutical Drugs: Tradition to Translational”, “Young Ethnopharmacologist Award Function”, “American Chemical Society (ACS) Best Oral Presentation Award Session”, “SFE Best Poster Presentation Session”, Panel Discussion on “Opportunities and Challenges in Cannabis Research” and Traditional Healers Meet. Other scientific sessions would include talks on the themes “Phytopharmaceuticals: Drug Development from Traditional Medicine”, “Evidence-Based Validation of Traditional Medicine”, “Traditional Ethnopharmacology Inspired Drug Discovery and Development”, “Development of Botanical/Herbal Drugs: Global Perspective”, “Global Positioning of AYUSH Products: Standardization and Validation”, “Natural Products Inspired Modern Drug Discovery”, “Network/Reverse Pharmacology in Herbal Drug Discovery”, “New Approaches for Phytopharmaceutical Drugs Development”, “Ethnomedicine: an Invaluable Source of Novel Drug”, “Regulatory Aspects of Phytopharmaceutical Drugs (US FDA/EMA)”, “Opportunities and Challenges in Cannabis Research”, “Bioprospecting Plants and Microbes for Development of Therapeutics”, “New Approaches in Natural Product Drug Discovery”, etc.
More than 100 distinguished invited speakers, from nearly 20 different countries, including the United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Ghana and India would be delivering their talks. Prominent among them are Prof. Domenico V. Delfino, Università Degli Studi di, Perugia Italy, Dr. Veeranoot Nissapatorn, School of Allied Science, Thailand, Dr. Alexander Shikov, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Formulation, St. Petersburg State Chemical University, Russia, Prof. Rainer W. Bussmann, Department of Ethnobotany, llia Sate University, Tbilisi Georgia, Dr. Julieta Z. Dungca, Dean, School of Science and Technology, CEU, Manila Phillipines, Dr. Marco Leonti, Dept of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Italy, Dr. Liyaqat Ali, Pothkrit Institute of Health Science, Dhaka Dr. Kofi Busia, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Herbal Medicine, Ghana, South Africa Prof. Sitesh C. Bachar, Dept. Of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dr. Ashutosh Tripathi, Director, NPS Discovery Core, University Of Michigan, USA Prof. Md. Abdur Rashid, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Prof. Samuel Bertrand, University of Nantes, Cedex, France Dr. Prof JN Eloff, University of Pretoria, South African, Prof. Michael Heinrich, UCL School of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, London, Prof. Thomas Efferth, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany, Prof. Mogna S Rajagopal, Dean of Pharmaceuticals Sciences, Malasiya Eden Joy P. Alata, School of Science and Technology, University Manila, Filipino. Nearly 700 participants from all over India have registered for this mega event.
The international conference is being organized under the overall supervision of Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director CSIR-IIIM and the organizing Chairman for this International Conference with assistance from Dr. Prasson K. Gupta and Dr. Naveed Qazi as organizing secretaries for the conference. Other members of the functional committee for this event are: Dr. Pulok K. Mukherjee, Chairman, Scientific Services SFEC-2024, Dr. Subhash C Mandal, Secretary SFE, Mr. Birendra Kumar Sarkar, President SFE, Dr. CK Katiyar, Vice President SFE, Mr. Indraneel Das, Vice President, SFE, Dr. Amit Kar, Treasurer SFE, Dr. Vikash Babu, Treasurer.
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