17 Nov 2012|Noida | Amity University Campus, Sector-125 Noida
Amity University confers Honorary Professorships to International Scientists during the Symposium on “Recent Advances in Natural Products”
7th International Symposium on “ Recent Advances in Natural Products” organized by Amity University, Uttar Pradesh (AUUP), jointly with International Society for the Development of Natural Products (ISDNP), National Society of Ethnopharmacology, India (NSE) and Phytochemical Society of Asia (PSA) concluded today at Amity Campus, Sector- 125, Noida.
During the Concluding Ceremony, Amity University conferred Honorary Professorships to International scientists who are reckoned worldwide for their research. Prof. Dr. K Glowniak, President, ISDNP & Dean International Relations Medical University of Lublin, Poland and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Frank- Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Bayreuth, Germany were conferred Honorary Professorships in Amity Institute of Pharmacy by Dr. Ashok K Chauhan- Founder President, Amity Group.
Prof. Yoshinori Asakawa, President, PSA, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Japan, Prof. Srini V Kaveri- Director, INSERM, Paris, France and Prof. G. A Cordell, University Illinois were conferred Honorary Professorships in Amity Institute of Biotechnology
Dr. Chauhan announced the establishment of “Amity International Society for Natural Products” which will work in close cooperation with National Society of Ethnopharmacology, India, Phytochemical Society of Asia and International Society for the Development of Natural Products for furthering the R& D activities in the field of natural products across the globe. A website has also been created ie www.aisnp.org wherein the researchers and scientists from all over the world can share their breakthrough research and important finding related to the Natural products.
While giving important suggestions to the management of Amity University, Prof. G. A Cordell, University Illinois stressed that everyone including the students should have access to highest level of global information which would facilitate their research initiatives. He called upon the researchers and scientists across the world to think out of the box, keep innovating and all along, pursue their research in sync with the public health and interest, without infringing on the nature and its precious resources. Prof. Cordell advocated the idea of “Cross Fertilization of various Sciences and their applications” including Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Chemistry ie inter- disciplinary usage of sciences for R&D. He suggested the management to grow medicinal plants in the Amity Campus to promulgate the significance and usage of Natural products and medicines.
Prof. Dr. Hartmut Frank- Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, University of Bayreuth, Germany suggested to set up a “Globalised Virtual Lab” in Amity University which can act as a common platform for inter-disciplinary scientists to share their ideas and researches
Giving valuable feedback on behalf of the delegates of the Symposium, Prof. Srini V Kaveri- Director, INSERM, Paris, France remarked that the Symposium was an educative, formative and instructive experience for all the delegates. The symposium gave an opportunity to experienced scientists and researchers and as well as youngsters who are learning to display their knowledge and talent. He raised a very vital question to the audience that why despite of so much R& D in the field of natural products, there is still a lurking skepticism about their importance and usage amongst the mainstream scientists and what should be done to cross this barrier of resistance and make these scientists realize the immense benefits of natural products.
While sharing his views, Dr. Neem Hakim- International Centre for Integrated Herbal research and Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh called upon Amity University to partner with Bangladesh in developing the formulations of Natural products, their quality control and standardization, as part of the mission of Amity University to develop and promote the usage of Natural products globally
Prof. P. Pushpangadan, Padama Shree, DG, Amity Institute for Herbal & Biotech Products Development, President, National Society of Ethnopharmacology (NSE) India & Chairman, 7th ISDNP and Dr. V George- Director, Amity Institute of Phytochemistry and Secretary, Organizing Committee, 7th ISDNP presented a brief overview of the plenary sessions and technical sessions that took place during the three day Symposium and enriched the knowledge of the speakers and delegates
The Best Posters displayed during the Symposium were awarded books worth 100 pounds each by Dr. Hartmut Frank and Dr. Ashok K Chauhan. The Award Winning Posters included “Volatile Oil Chemistry of Syzygium species from Kerala” from Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, “Anti- Cancer and Chemopreventive Leads from Garcinia Humilis and Clusia Flava” from University of West Indies, Jamaica, West Indies and Clemson University, South Carolina, “Cytostatic Influence of Selol and Sodium Selenite (IV) on Allium Test Cells” from Medicinal University of Lublin, Poland and Warsaw University, Poland
Mrs. Glowniak also exhibited her beautiful and colorful paintings on natural products during the three day International Symposium which were applauded by one and all.
The three day symposium, which took place from Nov 15-17, 2012, was attended by a vast congregation of Foreign Delegates from Germany, Austria, USA, Japan, Malaysia etc. and Indian Delegates comprising of scientists, researchers and students. The International symposium provided an ideal platform for fruitful interaction amongst world renowned scientists, researchers and scholars engaged in natural product development on the topics such as Chemistry of Natural Products, Ethnopharmacology, Ethnomedicine, Herbal Drug Development, Herbal drug standardization and quality control, IPR. The Symposium comprised of three plenary sessions, five key note addresses, fifteen invited lectures and thirty four poster presentations on latest trends in phyto chemical research.
The Concluding Ceremony was preceded by informative technical sessions which included “Mushrooms: The novel sources for novel anticancer bioactive drugs” by Dr. Manzoor A Shah, Univ of Kashmir, Srinagar, “Acety1-11-keto- boswellic acid as potential antibacterial and anti-biofilm agent” by Ms. Alsaba F Raja, IIM-CSIR, Srinagar, “Utilization of wild mushrooms as natural untapped treasures” by Dr. Monika Thakur, Amity Institute of Food Technology, “Evaluation of Plant-lore of Jharkhand in synergy of experimental ethnobotany” by Dr. Kaushal Kumar, Ranchi, “Protection of Traditional Knowledge related to plants used for Food and medicine & scope of developing new paradigms on access and benefit sharing” by Dr. T.G. Vinod Kumar Nair, Palode, “Some contraceptive ethnomedicines used by tribals of Satpuda forest East Khandesh, Maharashtra, India” by Dr. R.M. Bagul, Jalgaon and many more
Presenting his research paper on “Research and Development of Herbal products in Bangladesh”, Dr. Neem Hakim- International Centre for Integrated Herbal research and Development, Dhaka, Bangladesh brought out the fact that Bangladesh does not have any remarkable achievement as far as R& D in Herbal products is concerned, which could be attributed to “political unrest and poor economy of the country”. Dwelling on the present situation of the development and promotion of herbal products in Bangladesh, Dr. Hakim said, “Although few university laboratories are engaged in routine research but only few private organizations are involved in the development of herbal cosmetics, toiletries and food supplements and that too for their own interest. Bangladesh does not have any herbal pharmacopoeia and formulary yet and there is no authority to approve or standardize herbal drugs in Bangladesh. Pointing to the recent advances in the sector, Dr. Neem Hakim shared that, Bangladesh International Centre for Integrated Herbal Research and Development (ICIHRD) is lobbying with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to set up separate directorate for Herbal Medicine and is also lobbying to form a separate committee in Bangladesh Standard Testing Institute (BSTI), under the ministry of industry.