The National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar, Punjab and Bristol Mayers Squibb are jointly organising an international symposium on ‘Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK)--Applications toward Drug Discovery and Development’ from February 11 to 13 at the NIPER premises.

The main aim of the symposium is to provide a better understanding of the role played by evaluating new and current techniques and models associated with drug metabolism and drug transporters, as well as development of pharmacokinetic-pharmaco-dynamic models. To gain insights into the issues met during the drug discovery process and the interface between discovery and clinical development and also by reducing the attrition of drug candidates through a better understanding of metabolism and in vitro and in vivo correlations.

The event is primarily a lecture-based symposium intended for students and scientists from industry, academia, health-based government organizations, and healthcare professionals with a background in chemistry, biology, or the pharmaceutical sciences, with some experience in the principles and techniques of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics. The symposium is also intended for experienced researchers in these areas who wish to broaden or supplement their area of expertise, as well as contribute to the discussion topics.

The main speakers of the symposium include Dr Albert Li, APSciences Inc, USA; Dr Bhoopinder Bhoop, Punjab University, India; Dr Daniel Morgan, Bristol-Myers Squibb, USA; Dr Dhiren Thakker, University of North Carolina, USA; Dr Devesh Kumar, IICT, Hyderabad, India; Dr Girish Gudi, Glenmark, India; Dr Indranil Rao, Biocon BMS R&D Centre, India; Dr. Jasminder Sahi, CellzDirect, USA; Dr Jyoti Paliwal, PERD Centre, Ahmedabad, India; Dr Krishna Iyer, Bombay College of Pharmacy, India; Dr Michael Sinz, Bristol-Myers Squibb, USA; Dr Nimish Vachharanjani, Advinus, India; Dr. Pradeep Sharma, Astrazeneca, UK; Dr. Prashant Desai, Eli Lilly and Co., USA; Dr. Punit Marathe, Bristol-Myers Squibb, USA; Dr. Ragu Ramanathan, Bristol-Myers Squibb, USA;  Dr. Rajiv Sharma, Piramal Life Sciences Ltd, India; Dr. Ramaswamy Iyer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, USA;
Dr. Sandhya Mandlekar, Bristol-Myers Squibb, India; Dr. Saranjit Singh, NIPER, S.A.S. Nagar, India; Dr. Timothy Tracy, University of Kentucky, USA; and Dr. Vijay Gombar, Eli Lilly and Co., USA.