Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and School of Pharmacy, Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management (GITAM) Deemed to be University, India co-organized their first-ever international webinar on 18th November 2020.
This three-hour event, an activity under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both universities had an interesting and critical theme “Challenges and Innovative Drug Delivery Approaches for the Management of Chronic Diseases”.
The international webinar was a great success and it attracted more than 300 participants comprising of academicians, research scholars, students, and industry personnel from across the globe.
The event started with an opening remark by the Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shariza Sahudin followed by a speech by Prof. N. Siva Prasad, Pro Vice Chancellor, GITAM, Hyderabad, India. Both dignitaries highlighted that “collaboration between both institutions especially in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences is hugely important in terms of promoting global visibility and internationalization”.
The aim of being well-known globally could be achieved by opening opportunities for research activities, joint publications and staff/student mobility programmes between both the institutions.
This was further elaborated through mutual discussion between Dr Nor Hayati Abu Samah, Head of Pharmaceutics Department, UiTM, and Prof. Shiva Kumar, Principal, School of Pharmacy, GITAM University, on the research interests and expertise of faculty members. Dr Nor Hayati emphasized on the wide range of research being carried out and highlighted the wealth of expertise and experiences available at UiTM with the aim to initiate the foundation for international research collaboration between these two nations.
The detailed insights on the current challenges, innovative technologies, latest developments, and new avenues in the drug delivery for the tailored treatment of chronic diseases were shared by two prominent speakers, Prof Dr Wong Tin Wui, UiTM, Malaysia; who is listed in the World’s Top 2% scientists in Pharmacy & Pharmacology by PLOS BIOLOGY and Dr Sunitha Sampathi, GITAM University, India.
Wong’s area of expertise is targeted drug delivery and his publications can be viewed via Google Scholar link https://scholar.google.com.my/citations?user=a5XrVwwAAAAJ&hl=en.
This was followed next with a very interactive question and answer session that was enlightening, engaging and informative in terms of developing novel strategies for the management of chronic diseases.
This webinar ultimately created a dynamic platform bringing together scientists from a wide range of research fields to initiate research collaboration and share common experiences and best practices in an international environment.