The Ramanbhai Foundation 8th International Symposium on the current trends in healthcare ‘Advances in New Drug Discovery and Development’ began at the Gujarat University Convention and exhibition centre on February 02, 2016. Over the next three days, over 1,200 delegates including internationally acclaimed scientists, researchers and academicians from India and across the globe will be discussing and deliberating upon various aspects related to new drug discovery - with a focus in the areas of public health and infectious diseases, liver disease & NASH, cardio-metabolic disorders, oncology and chemical biotechnology through thought provoking panel discussions, case studies, workshops and over 300 scientific poster presentations.

The symposium also has a focused drug development and healthcare exhibition with more than 70 Life Sciences companies from India showcasing their capabilities in drug discovery and development.

At the opening session, Dr. Jeffrey S. Flier, managing director, dean HMS (2007-2016), Harvard Medical School, Harvard University delivered the keynote address on ‘The Problem of Reproducibility in Biomedical Research’. Dr. Flier, an endocrinologist and an authority on the molecular causes of obesity and diabetes, is also the caroline shields walker professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Speaking on the occasion, Pankaj R. Patel, chief patron of the Ramanbhai Foundation 8th International Symposium and chairman and managing director, Zydus Cadila, said, “Drug discovery and development occurs as a result of many forms of collaboration, with learnings emerging from many interconnected disciplines and the process of drug discovery requires the best scientific minds to come together, highly sophisticated technologies, and complex project management skills to bring efforts to fruition. This year’s theme of the Ramanbhai Foundation International Symposium is to understand these linkages as we explore Advances in Drug Discovery and Development.”

The symposium has an eminent panel of speakers such as Dr. Richard DiMarchi, Ph.D., Standiford H. Cox distinguished professor of chemistry, Linda & Jack Gill chair in biomolecular sciences, Indiana University, Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, managing director, president of global vaccine business unit, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Kapil Dhingra, managing director, retired vice president, Roche, director, KAPital Consulting LLC, Dr. Manoj Desai, Ph.D., vice president, medicinal chemistry, Gilead Sciences, Dr. Arun Sanyal, MD, professor of medicine, physiology and molecular pathology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Dr. Jay Horton, managing director, distinguished chair in human nutrition, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dr. Walter Wahli, Ph.D, professor of metabolic disease, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Dr. Martin Pule, managing director, founder & chief scientific officer, Autolus Limited, Dr. Jörg Möhrle, Ph.D., vice president, head of translational medicine, research & development, medicines for malaria venture to name a few.

The Ramanbhai Foundation international symposium has been bringing together experts from both the academia and industry across the world to share their insights on the latest developments in pharmaceutical research. The theme of the first international symposium in 2003 was Drug Discovery – the journey from Mouse to Man. In 2005, the focus was on the role of genomics and proteomics and in 2007 it was on the advances in diabetes therapy.

Zydus Cadila is an innovative, global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of healthcare therapies. On the path of innovation, the group employs over 19,500 people worldwide.