Patient centered clinical research conference organised by ISCR at Mumbai on 8-9 Jan

Research in therapeutic areas is most needed in the country and in a manner best suited to

patients, with focus on safety, ethics and quality. This is the theme of a two-day conference on

clinical research to start  in Mumbai on January 8.

The conference, which is expected to draw over 400 clinical research professionals from across

the country and overseas, will revolve around the theme of ‘Patients first and research for India’.

The meet is being organised by the Indian Society for Clinical Research.

Speaking a day ahead of the conference, officials said India needed to play a more proactive role

in conducting clinical research. They reasoned that although India was home to a sixth of the

world’s population, less than 1.4 per cent of global clinical trials were being done here. Besides,

India had a fifth of the global disease burden, they said.

“Clinical research is essential not just for developing medicines for emerging health concerns

such as antibiotic-resistant pathogens, H1N1 and dengue, but also for finding safer and better

medicines for endemic diseases such as malaria , as well as for lifestyle diseases such as

diabetes, hypertension and cancer,” an official said.

An ISCR statement said that the meet, which is in its ninth edition, would cover a range of topics

of relevance and contemporariness from the perspective of clinical operations, investigator

initiated research, accreditation, ethics, training, regulation, pharmacovigilance, medical writing,

data management, statistics and career development in clinical research.

“India must now take a more proactive part in conducting clinical research to make newer, safer

medication more accessible. We hope the regulators will also invest in capacity building and

better infrastructure to ensure better governance,” said Suneela Thatte, president, ISCR.

She stated that the conference would offer an opportunity to all stakeholders involved in the

conduct of clinical research in India to discuss and deliberate on the new regulatory environment

and what more needed to be done to facilitate ethical and responsible clinical research in the

country.

“When debating about clinical research, we must remember that at the centre of any research we

do is a patient. As medical practitioners and investigators, we have an important responsibility to

ensure that patients have access to the latest and best treatment options,” Girish Chinnaswamy,

Associate Professor, department of Paediatric Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, said.

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