CSIR- Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (CSIR-IIIM), Jammu, successfully concluded its Three-day skill development training program which saw participation of more than 20 participants from different Universities of J&K region. The valedictory function was chaired by Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director CSIR-IIIM Jammu who in his address underscored the need of obtaining S&T skills as he termed Science-A way of thinking and said that in order to achieve SDG goals and success towards Viksit Bharat,the role of Science has to be pivotal.

While addressing the participants, Dr Ahmed fostered scientific temperament among participants and encouraged them to pursue research as their career, emphasizing the importance of science & technology for future. Dr Ahmed in his address welcomed all researchers to visit the Institute and equip themselves with practical insights and skills, vital for navigating the complexities of drug research and development.

During the three days program, participants were imparted training in drug discovery and development with meticulously designed hands on training practical sessions equipping participants with fundamental skills and knowledge in drug discovery and development. Through a series of lectures, and practical exercises, attendees delved into various facets of drug discovery, including molecular biology, Pharmacology, computational modeling, and clinical trials management. On Day One, Dr. Parvinder Pal Singh, Principal Scientist delivered a lecture on “Phytopharmaceuticals Drugs – Scientific Validation of Traditional Knowledge” while as Dr Ravindra S Phatake,Scientist talked about “Natural products in drug discovery – advances and opportunities”.

On day two Dr Prasoon K.Gupta ,Principal Scientist gave an insightful talk on “Discovery of Bioactive Compounds through a High Throughput Strategy to Speedup Drug Discovery” while as Dr Bharitkar Yogesh, Scientist delivered a lecture on “Discovery of Novel Phytochemicals -A Systematic Process including Extraction, Isolation and Spectroscopic Characterization”. Dr Kancherla Prasad, Senior Scientist delivered a talk on “Intellectual Property Rights”. On Day Three, Dr Qazi Naveed ,Principal Scientist & Head NPMC Division, talked about “Modern Drug Discovery-A Rational Approach” while as Dr Showkat Rashid, Senior Scientist delivered a lecture on “Natural Product Chemistry (NPC) and Synthetic Organic Chemistry (SOC) – A Tale of Two Complementary Partners in Modern Drug Discovery”.

Dr. Bhahwal Ali Shah, Pr. Scientist and Technical Coordinator of the Event, enhanced the program’s practical value by conducting hands-on training and lab sessions. He also gave an practical session on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in drug discovery, with hands-on training on molecular modeling approaches and their application in drug discovery.

Earlier Dr Nasir Ul Rasheed, Senior Scientist & Coordinator Skill Development conducted the proceedings of Valedictory function and shared objectives of such training programs and informed participants about various initiatives under CSIR-Integrated Skill initiatives.The Training program was conducted under overall supervision of Er Abdul Rahim,Chief Scientist and Head,RMBD & IST Division.