Amity Institute of Pharmacy under the aegis of Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow Campus, has organized a three-day conference cum workshop on hybrid mode “Alternatives to animal experiments: Exploring imminent possibilities in preclinical drug discovery using computational tools (AAE-2023)” during 1st to 3rd November 2023. The event was an immersive and thought-provoking conference cum workshop imparting values for students, PhD scholars, researchers, educators, and professionals in the fields of pharmacy, life sciences, biomedical research, and related disciplines. This event was comprehended for recognizing the ethical as well as cutting-edge alternatives to animal experiments, thereby fostering and promoting a deeper understanding for exploration of advancements in research methodologies. The hands-on training associated with the program mesmerized the attendees on handling different freely available computational tools useful in drug discovery and development including, AUTODOCK, Swiss ADME etc. Renowned speakers from reputed institutes (International/National) like University of Utah Germantown, Maryland, USA, Princess Noora Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University, New Delhi, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, IIT BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, Ecotoxicology Laboratory CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) CRK Campus, Uttar Pradesh, Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, and NIPER-Raebareli, Lucknow, shared their experiences for the benefit of the delegates.
DAY-1
The inaugural ceremony of the event took place on Day 1 which was graced by eminent personalities from the university as well as outside university. The program continued with the unfolding of the Abstract book-AAE, 2023 on the stage. It was followed by technical session 1 which was delivered by Dr S K Rath, Chief Scientist, Division of Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh. He accentuated several alternative models (especially emphasizing on DNA, RNA, QSAR models, 3D tissues culture, noninvasive diagnostics, and imaging) and discussed on the importance of 3R (Reduce, Replace & Refine) in drug discovery and development.
Dr. S. Anbumani, Principal Scientist, React Division - Ecotoxicology Laboratory, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), CRK Campus, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh was the honourable speaker of technical session-II, and he predominantly enlightened the session with his attributes on Zebrafish as an alternative model to study emerging contaminants induced developmental toxicity and the importance of LC50 accelerated result analysis. He also focussed how Zebrafish model can be used extensively for neuroscience-based research leading to imperative and precision findings.
Dr. Tabinda Hasan, Associate Professor of human anatomy, histology, and embryology College of medicine, Princess Noora Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU), The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia started the technical session-III with her talk on contemporary dual tool for disease modelling and therapeutics in regenerative neuroscience and an emerging alternative to animal models.
DAY-2
The 2nd day of AAE-2023 was completely online and the event got initiated with a brief welcome address of Prof. (Dr.) Anuradha Mishra, Director, AIP, AUUP-L and the convenor of AAE-2023 on zoom platform.
Dr. Nrusingha Charan Mishra, Health Science Manager, Defense Health Agency, DOD, University of Utah, Germantown, Maryland United States was the esteemed speaker of technical session-I of the second day of AAE-2023. He delivered a talk on prostate cancer, the status of the disease, and different consortiums associated with the clinical trials of prostate cancer.
Dr. Vinod Tiwari, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering and Technology, IIT, BHU, Varanasi, UP, India, was the eminent speaker for the technical session-II, and he delivered a talk on development of TRPA1 SiRNA based nano formulation for the treatment of chemotherapy induced neuropathic pain. He emphasized several attributes for studying the theragnostic associated with chemotherapeutic induced neuropathic pain via numerous in-vitro models as an excellent tool towards animal models.
Dr. Mukesh Nandave, Associate Dean (Research & Consultancy), Head, Dept. of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, New Delhi was the eminent speaker for technical session-III, of day 2. He delivered his scientific talk on “Drug repurposing in Glioma: in vitro and in silico approaches”. He shared his vast experience on therapeutic approaches against Glioma prioritizing the repurposing of drugs as an essential and altered therapeutic regimen to the delegates.
An oral presentation competition was held for original research article sections under four important tracts viz Track 1 (Pharmaceutics), Track 2 (Pharmacology), Track 3 (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) and Track 4 (Pharmacognosy) and Track 5 (Review articles) to provide a meaningful platform for the young researchers. All these tracks ran simultaneously on different online platforms. Almost 271 delegates and 09 panelists have attended all the sessions conducted on day 2nd on zoom platform.
DAY-3
The final day of the conference commenced with hands-on training towards handling of different softwares for drug discovery by Dr. Rahul Maurya & Dr. Md Yasir of AIP, AUUP. This session was followed by an online technical session by Dr. Md. Arshad, who delivered a talk on cell lines as in vitro pre-clinical test system for the evaluation of promising anti-cancer agents. Dr. Sandeep Chaudhary, Associate Professor and HOD, Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry OMC Lab, NIPER-Raebareli, Lucknow, was the Chief Guest cum Keynote speaker of the event and has enlightened the session by sharing his views and expertise on the objectives and necessities for animal alternative models for enabling quality research outcomes. The three-day international conference on AAE-2023 ended with Valedictory function. The conference was witnessed by 551 delegates in hybrid mode in a span of three days. The results of oral presentations were announced in the valedictory function. The best presentations were awarded with cash prizes and certificates by the chief guest of the event followed by Wg. Cdr. (Dr.) Anil Kumar (Retd), Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor and Director, ASET, AUUP, Lucknow Campus, and Prof. (Dr) Anuradha Mishra Convenor, Director, Amity Institute of Pharmacy, AUUP, Lucknow Campus. Finally, the event ended with the official vote of thanks offered by Dr. Lucy Mohapatra, Dr. Shradha Bisht, Dr. Rahul Maurya and Md. Yasir, the Organising Secretaries of the event.