The workshop on ‘Critical Thinking and Good Clinical Practice,’ jointly organised by JSS University (JSSU) and Clinical Development Service Agency (CDSA- DBT), Government of India, was inaugurated at Sri Rajendra Centenary Auditorium, JSS Hospital, Mysuru, yesterday.

Dr. T. S. Rao, Senior Advisor to CDSA and Dr. Y. K. Gupta,  Head, Department of Pharmacology, AIIMS, New Delhi, were the chief guests.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. T. S. Rao lauded the excellent infrastructure and facilities available at JSS University which were the crucial factors in awarding Centre of Excellence (CoE) Status to JSS University. Dr. Y. K. Gupta, who also spoke said that out of 34 applicants from various institutions of the country, JSSU was one of the five institutions selected for the award and topped the list.

CDSA is working to build capacity amongst clinical investigators for conducting clinical research. In this endeavour collaboration of CDSA with academic and research organisation is important, he added. Both the speakers mentioned the need for a healthy competition between government and private sectors.

Dr. B. Suresh, Vice-Chancellor, JSSU, who presided, thanked  CDSA for awarding CoE in clinical research to JSSU and highlighted the efforts made by the University in fulfilling the objectives of CoE.

The two-day  workshop is organised for 44 selected participants from Medical, Dental, Pharmacy and Life Sciences background which would help them in developing human resource and conducting meaningful and effective clinical research that is customised and needed for the country.

The experts for this training led by Dr. T. S. Rao are, Dr. Y. K. Gupta,  Dr. Suchetha Banerjee, Dr. A. B. Ramteke, Dr. Pawandeep Kaur, Dr. Gayathri Vishwakarma, Dr. Nandini  Kumar from Manipal University, Dr. Pratibha Periera and Dr. H. S. Kiran from JSSU and Dr. Sangeeta Myles from Pfizer.

Dr. H. Basavanagowdappa, Principal, JSS Medical College welcomed. Dr. B. Manjunatha, Registrar, JSSU, Dr. P. A. Kushalappa, Director-Academics, JSSU and Dr. G. Parthsarathi, Principal, JSS College of Pharmacy, were present.