Al Shifa College of Pharmacy's department of pharmacology, Perinthalmanna, Kerala hosted the national level workshop cum symposium on laboratory animals in biomedical research and ethics, first-of-its-kind in Kerala on recently.

The symposium was conducted with the presence and active participation of eminent and knowledged experts and trainees from various parts of India and by around 100 delegates from various colleges attended the workshop.

The two day workshop began with the inaugural function having Dr. K. R. Chandramohan, senior scientific officer, dept of anatomy, Govt Medical College, Trivandrum, Kerala and Dr. Harikrishnan. V. S, scientist ‘C’ division of laboratory animal science, biomedical wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science and Technology, Trivandrum, Kerala, as guest of honours. Dr. T. Balasubramanian, head of department, dept of pharmacology, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy welcomed the gathering while Prof, Dr. T. N. K. Suriyaprakash, principal, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy presided over the function. Mohammed Haneefa, vice principal, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy, delivered vote of thanks.

The workshop had sessions on the topics 'Ethics in animal research, and introduction to common laboratory animals', 'Handling of laboratory animals' and 'Toxicity studies and dose calculations' were dealt by Dr. K. R. Chandramohan, Dr. Harikrishnan. V. S and Dr. Ashok Kumar K, professor and head , epartment of pharmacology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Coimbatore Tamil Nadu. respectively.

Dr. Harikrishnan presented detailed lecture videos on handling of animals, various blood withdrawal techniques, routes of administration, anesthetic procedures, animal behaviour and complex responses during various experiments etc.

The symposium had seminar as well as interactive video sessions. The delegates were divided into 4 batches for the purpose of workshop sessions and each batch was headed by knowledge experts Dr. K.T. Manisenthilkumar, professor, dept of pharmacology, KMCH College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore and Dr. T. Balasubramanian, assisted by Gouri Nair, assistant professor, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy and delegates were provided with a direct learning experience on various pharmacological equipments and experimentation techniques.

The second day started off with the workshop sessions. After that two sessions on the subjects Transgenic animals in biomedical research And Principles of health assessment in laboratory animals were handled by Dr. Sibi P.I, Professor and head, dept of pharmacology, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala and by Dr. Harikrishnan V.S respectively.

The last and final session was dealt by Dr. Nandhakumar, associate professor, dept of pharmacology, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka on the topic Invitro screening techniques.

Delegates were also given an opportunity for poster presentation from 2:30- 4 pm on January 31, 2015. About 17 posters were presented. The posters were evaluated by the resource persons. Al Shifa College of Pharmacy bagged the first and second positions whereas the third position was bagged by RVS College of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Finally the valedictory function commenced with Dr. V. Ipe Varghese, Registrar, Kerala University of Health Sciences as the chief guest. Prasanth N.V, associate professor, dept of pharmacology, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy welcomed the gathering. P. Uneen, managing trustee, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy presided over the function. Dr. TNK. Suriyaprakash, felicitated the gathering. M. Karthikeyan, associate professor, Al Shifa College of Pharmacy delivered vote of thanks.

Al Shifa College of Pharmacy is a self financing college affiliated to Kerala University of Health Sciences and University of Calicut, approved by AICTE and PCI, and was established in 2002 by Shifa Medicare Trust, Kizhattur, Perinthalmanna, Malapuram Dist. Kerala.