National Conference on Basic and Clinical Pharmacology was conducted by Department of Pharmacology from October 7th to 9th, 2016 at Narayana Medical College, Nellore with a theme to bridge academy and industry. It was supported by Indian Pharmacological Society (IPS), Indian Medical Pharmacologists Association (IMPA) and Andhra Pradesh Medical Council (APMC).

It comprised of one-day workshop training on computer applications in medical research and two days of education and interaction. Nearly 30 hours of training, interaction and education on patient care and research have taken place during these three days. AP Medical Council with reference number (APMC/CME/164/2016/ dt. 22/08/2016) awarded six credit points for the conference.


We received an immense support from media partners, impas.com, plexusmd, facebook and whatsapp. We were able to reach 3,685 people through our online marketing strategy. We got an overwhelming response and nearly 500 delegates belonging to medical and allied sciences from academy and industry such as pharmacology, biochemistry, pathology, microbiology, dental, pharmacy, biotechnology, nursing and clinicians attended the conference from different states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Orissa and Punjab.
Speakers were basic scientists involved in drug testing in animals, animal physiologists, protectors of animal rights, stem cell specialist, pharmacology professors, Clinical Pharmacologists, Medical Advisors in Industry, Drug Regulatory Specialists, Technology Transfer Specialists, and Researchers from prestigious institutions like PGI, JIPMER, AIIMS, NIN, NIMS and reputed Pharmaceutical industries like Novartis, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Alkem Labs , Quintiles etc.


Basic pharmacologists gave lectures on development of new drugs, new indications for old drugs, new mechanism of treating a disease, animal experiments to identify a safe initial dose and subsequent doses to be used in patients, develop biomarkers for determining the safety of patients.

Clinical pharmacologists work in a variety of settings in academia, industry and government. They study drug-drug interaction, drug-food interaction, therapeutic efficacy and safety in humans. Additionally, they develop new tools, standards, and approaches that efficiently and consistently assess the safety, efficacy, quality of medications to be used in patients.

Pharmaceutical industry people ask basic and clinical pharmacologists – Where do drugs act in the body? At what dose does side or adverse effects occur? What organs are affected? What are the optimal routes for drug delivery? For how long does a compound stay in the body of the patient? What will happen if two drugs are simultaneously taken? Do drugs interact with food?

Knowledge, skills, and resourcefulness of people are critical to sustaining development, economic, and social activity in society. Evidence suggests that high level and professional skills are concerns across both industry and academia. The shortage of appropriately skilled labour across many industries is emerging as a significant and complex challenge to India’s growth and future.

This conference covered subjects related to basic research, clinical research, some drug regulations which vary from country to country and the job opportunities for young doctors in pharma industry apart from academics.

Pre-Conference Workshop Highlights

Pre-conference workshop on October 7th, 2016 on Computer Applications in Medical Research was conducted by JIPMER team, Puducherry comprising of Dr. R. Raveendran, Professor & HOD, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, and his team Dr. M. Jayanthi and Dr. S. Manikandan.

The Chief Guest was Dr. G. Subramanyam, Director, Narayana Medical Institutions and Dr. R. Raveendran was the Guest of Honour. Other distinguished dignitaries including Dr. G. Veera Nagi Reddy, Principal, Narayana Medical College, Dr. S. Vijay Kumar, Academic Co-ordinator, Narayana Medical College, Dr. Subbarao, Hospital Administrator, Narayana Medical College & Hospital, Dr. Vijaya Mohan Reddy, CEO, Narayana Super specialty Hospital, Dr. P. Narasimha Reddy, Medical Superintendent, Narayana Medical College & Hospital, Dr. Sreeram Sateesh, Additional Medical Superintendent, Narayana Medical College & Hospital, Dr. B. L. Kudagi, Organizing Chairman and Dr. P. Rama Mohan, Organizing Secretary graced the inaugural function. Inaugural function began with the Invocation song, lighting of ceremonious lamp, welcome address and orientation to workshop by Organizing Chairman, keynote address by the Chief Guest and speech by the distinguished dignitaries on the dias. Inaugural function ended with Vote of Thanks by Dr. P. Rama Mohan.

Workshop dealt with topics on literature search, randomization, sample size calculation, managing references using Zotero, data handling using excel sheet and statistical analysis using GraphPadInstat with hands-on experience using various software. It was an extremely knowledgeable and highly interactive. Workshop ended at 5 pm with felicitation of Dr. R. Raveendran for his contribution to the field of Clinical Pharmacology by the Organizing team and vote of thanks by Dr. P. Rama Mohan.

Conference Highlights

On 8th October 2016, the programme began with Inaugural function. Dr. B. Dinesh Kumar, President, IPS was the Chief Guest. Dr. M. NateshPrabhu, President, IMPA and Dr. G. Ashok, Observer, APMC were the Guests of Honour. Esteemed dignitaries including Dr. G. Veera Nagi Reddy, Principal, NMC, Dr. S. Vijay Kumar, Academic Co-ordinator, NMC, Dr. Subbarao, Hospital Administrator, NMCH, Dr. Vijaya Mohan Reddy, CEO, Narayana Superspecialty Hospital, Dr. P. Narasimha Reddy, MS, NMCH, Dr. SreeramSateesh, Additional MS, NMCH, Dr. B. L. Kudagi, Organizing Chairman and Dr. P. Rama Mohan, Organizing Secretary graced the inaugural function. Inaugural function began with the Invocation song, lighting of ceremonious lamp, welcome address and orientation to conference by Organizing Chairman, keynote address by the Chief Guest and speech by the other dignitaries on the dias. We received 87 abstracts and the editorial board was kind enough to accept to publish all the abstracts as a supplementary issue of Narayana Medical Journal. Journal was released by Dr. B. Dinesh Kumar. We received immense support by the management and sponsors and the Souvenir was released by Dr. M. NateshPrabhu. Memento was released by Dr. G. Ashok. Inaugural function ended with Vote of Thanks by Dr. P. Rama Mohan. Dr. B. Dinesh Kumar was felicitated by the Organizing team for his exemplary work in Pharmacology.

Scientific sessions began soon after the inaugural function with talks by speakers of unparalleled knowledge in their field of expertise. Dr B. Madhavulu, Professor of Pharmacology gave a brief talk on Journey to Conference (NCBCP). Sessions included topics on animal and clinical research stressing on ethical issues, industry job prospects and drug regulations emphasizing on Schedule Y. Other sessions included monoclonal antibodies, pharmacovigilance and integrating technology and medical research. Every session was chaired by an experienced member of academia/industry.

Afternoon, after 2pm, paper and poster presentations began. Paper presentations were held in 5 halls with 2 judges per hall. Poster sessions were judged by 3 judges. Four best papers and 2 best posters were awarded a certificate and a memento. Day 1 of the conference ended by 5pm. A gala dinner was organized in the evening at Satyam G, Dhanalakshmipuram, Nellore which was an electrifying experience and delegates had a lot of fun.
On 9thOctober 2016, sessions began as early as 9 am and topics on recent advances on pharmacology were dealt with including biosimilars, stem cells, biomarkers, clinical trial simulations, drug information unit and MD pharmacology curriculum. There was a panel discussion on Antimicrobial resistance by Dr. Meenakumari, Professor, Guntur Medical College, Guntur and team. Dr. MUR Naidu, Former Dean and HOD, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, NIMS, Hyderabad and presently working as Consultant Clinical Research Advisor, New Drug Discovery, Hyderabad was felicitated for his phenomenal work in the field of medical research. Dr. Betha Surya PrakasaRao, Vishakapatnam was also felicitated for his contribution to Pharmacology. Conference ended at 6pm with Vote of Thanks by Dr. P. Rama Mohan.



We gave the feedback forms to all delegates and received a positive response with request to organize such conference every year.
Outcome of our conference-education, interaction and training provided in this conference will be helpful in predicting, diagnosing, knowing the prognosis of the disease and prevention of the disease. A panel discussion exclusively held by senior and eminent pharmacologists of the state to redefine the educational system and help in modernizing the age-old syllabus. Additionally, our pre-conference workshop not only makes participants aware of computer applications but also strengthens their skills and confidence in the world of publish or perish. Students are made aware of the needs of industry, government regulations, patients and community. This conference has thrown light on the need to know versus nice to know concepts. Senior-most Clinical Pharmacologist, Dr. MUR Naidu and advisor to NATCO pharmaceutical has announced that he will utilize the services of EsaVyasa technologies director Dr. K Sasidhar in bringing out a new product using technology transfer.