Chandigarh, November 22, 2025: The 55th Annual Conference of the Indian Pharmacological Society concluded today at Panjab University, Chandigarh with a strong message of strengthening research-to-clinic pathways, expanding translational research and empowering young pharmacologists for a safe healthcare environment.
Delivering the keynote address on the third day, Dr. Neelima Kashirsagar, Emeritus Professor at State Medical Sciences University, Maharashtra, stressed the need to prioritize public health by ensuring safe and affordable medicines.
She said that medicines should not be taken without medical supervision. Citing clinical cases, he warned against misleading labeling and herb-drug interactions, including the example of an engineering student who developed recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding after taking an Ayurvedic painkiller.
Which was later found to contain 500 mg of acetylsalicylic acid. Another case was of an epileptic student who had seizures controlled by an interaction between a memory-enhancing Ayurvedic product and phenytoin, highlighting the importance of patient history and medical vigilance.
Reflecting on five decades in the field, Dr. Kashirsagar called upon young researchers to learn from mentors, develop strong teams and collaborate with basic scientists, clinicians, pharmacists and public health experts. He encouraged collective action, skill development and seizing opportunities to improve patient outcomes.
Dr. Jyoti Yadav, Chief Scientist, CSIR, emphasized on skill development and collective learning. To encourage young investigators, research awards were presented by the Chief Guest, Dr. P. L. Sharma, Professor Emeritus and Former Dean, PGIMER. He also told the students that good science does not always require good equipment but depends on good thinking.
Two keynote scientific lectures were also held on the third day. CDRI lecture on collaborating modern medicine with traditional wisdom in new drug discovery and Dr. S. C. Lahiri lecture on advancing targeted therapy and therapeutic innovation in Parkinson's disease.
Dr. Shiv Prakash Rantham, Former President of Indian Pharmacological Society and Founder of Synchron Research Private Limited, spoke about the future role of innovation-driven startups and cited the AI-ML drug discovery platform, Apicul, as an example of scalable research models.
A symposium on alternatives to animal testing methods highlighted zebrafish as an ethical biomedical research model for the 21st century. Dr Bijam noted that translational pharmacology is an important bridge connecting laboratory discoveries with practical therapies.
A major attraction was the IPSCon-2025 Quiz Competition on Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology. Cash prizes of ?12,000, ?9,000 and ?6,000 were awarded.
Sunil Verma, Director, Harom India Private Limited spoke on Pharmacovigilance as a catalyst for healthcare transformation, while Dr Vikas Medhi led discussions under IP C-Vigilance of Medicine Products. Dr Buddhadev Dawn from Las Vegas provided international insights on advancing cell therapy to the clinic.
Other sessions included Dr Anuradha Majumdar’s talk on Semaglutide Saga and Dr SB Pandey’s talk and Dr Lalitha Kameswaran’s talk on Pharmacology 4.0 by Dr Mohammed Ishaq Gir, which outlined a modernisation roadmap for India’s pharmaceutical sector.
The students actively participated in the symposium on API and KSM Self-reliance: Time to end China dependency for a self-reliant India, delivered by Dr Anamika Gulati. Professor Bhupinder Singh Bhup chaired the session on Advancing healthcare through nanotechnology and integrative medicine, which attracted leading researchers.
The conference concluded with a speech by Professor Anil Kumar, Chairperson, UIPS, who thanked the speakers, delegates and sponsors, and said that the collective commitment of all of them made this event a success.