Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Traditional Medicine (ICMR-NITM) inaugurated a national-level training programme for young professionals on designing and conducting clinical trials in Belagavi on Thursday.
Aparna Mukherjee, head of clinical trials, ICMR, New Delhi, inaugurated the two-day event on the new campus of ICMR-NITM off the Pune-Bengaluru national highway.
She spoke about the preparation of high-quality clinical trial proposals that can seek funding. She promised ICMR support for good clinical trials.
“ICMR will not only promote research in medicine and related fields but also promote entrepreneurship among young scientists and researchers. If you come up with a good idea about a new drug or procedure and you want to implement it in a proper manner, you can seek support from ICMR and start an enterprise,” she said.
C. Padma Priyadarshini, director, ICMR National Institute for Research on Tuberculosis, said that “clinical trials of our own traditional healing practices is the need of the hour.”
“It takes deep interest, perseverance, a lot of patience and appropriate funding at a proper time for a good clinical trial project,” she said.
Subarna Roy, director, ICMR-NITM, introduced the activities of the Belagavi institute. He said that the need for such a workshop was felt as the Union government is opening up several opportunities for clinical trials not only by government agencies but also private institutes, colleges and research centres.
He hoped the training programme will build capacity for clinical trials in government and private medial colleges, hospitals and research institutions. “ICMR-NITM is playing a key role in translating research into clinical practice through these programmes,” he said.
He said that ICMR-NITM is working towards pioneering research and clinical trials in Integrative Medicine. “We are at the interface between traditional medicine and modern medicine. We are not only developing new drugs and procedures, but also validating traditional healing techniques, identifying native healers and documenting their practices and working with governments in policy formulations,” he said.
“Indian traditional systems of medicine need to be open for scientific scrutiny for their global acceptance,” Shivaprasad Goudar, professor of Physiology, JNMC, and director, Research, KAHER, said.
He said that the demand for Indian Traditional Medicine is increasing exponentially across the globe.
As many as 50 participants from 11 States hailing from various backgrounds such as modern medicine, Ayurveda, Siddha, Homoeopathy, Unani, basic sciences and pharmacy attended the sessions.
The training and interaction sessions end on Friday.
