Laureate Institute of Pharmacy in Himachal Pradesh is organizing a national conference on ‘Recent Advancement in Herbal Medicine & Herbal Drug Technology’ on April 3 and 4 at the institute.  The conference is sponsored by ICMR and DST, said  Shammy Jindal, organizer of the conference.

According to him, this conference is aimed at enriching the knowledge of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani & Materia medica as applied to clinical cases, and expand the techno skill in evaluation of phyto-constituents and their effective formulation. Variety of topics, including standardization and finger printing of herbal drugs, advances in biotechnology, tissue culturing and neutraceuticals will be discussed in detail in various sessions. Scientists with multiple interests in herbal medicine, including formulations, researches and clinical studies will deliver valuable speeches.

The conference will be attended by community herbalists as well as indigenous healers to learn more about the benefits of the natural medicinal resources. It will create a platform for awareness about environment and natural products providing an opportunity for planned sustainable utilization of valuable forest and cultivable bio resources in the Himalayan zone, he said.

Dr Ashok Bharadwaj, HoD of community medicine at Dr RPG Medical College at Kangra in Himachal Pradesh will inaugurate the conference.

Dr Praveen Bansal, joint director at Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot; Dr Renjith Singh, Principal, Government College of Pharmacy, Shimla; Dr M S Aswath, Principal, Laureate Institute of Pharmacy; Dr Bikram Singh, chief scientist, Natural Plant Products at CSIR; Dr C P Kashyap, Professor at the College of Ayurvedic Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shimla; Dr V Kusum Devi, professor, Al-Ameen College of Pharmacy, Bengaluru and Dr Praveen Sharma, professor, department of pharmaceutical sciences at RPG Medical College at Kangra will speak on various subjects in different sessions.

As part of the national conference, a poster presentation will also be organised in these days.