12 & 13 September, 2023
Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM, Puncak Alam, Selangor.

Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM, hosted a two-day program titled “Workshop on Drug Screening & Pharmacological Evaluations". This workshop was designed to impart the skills of researchers in drug development through pharmacological and toxicological evaluations. The program was attended by UiTM students as well as external participants having medical, biomedical, pharmacy and dental backgrounds. The workshop covered the basics of drug development from the stage of preliminary toxicological evaluations of a new drug or new chemical entity. Five lecture sessions were conducted covering the various aspects of drug discovery and evaluation such as the development of lead molecule, steps involved in the optimization of lead molecule, target-based drug discovery, physiology-based drug discovery and general steps of various in-silico techniques. The lecture series also encompassed basic guidelines on OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and drug testing in preclinical stages. The opening session of the program was addressed by Professor Dr. Kalavathy Ramasamy, Deputy Dean, Research & Innovation, Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM. The speakers and facilitators of the workshop were Associate Professor Dr. Hanish Singh Jayasingh Chellammal, Associate Professor Dr. Mizaton Hazizul Hasan, Dr. Aisyah Hasyila Jahidin, Dr. Maziana Mahamood, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vellayan Subramaniam, Mr. Muhammad Harith Zulkifli and Dr. Nur Sakinah Binti Latifi from the Department of Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Chemistry. The scientific officers in the workshop were Mr. Mohd Alimukhti Mansor, Mr. Hizwan Nizam Abd Rahman and Mrs. Nurul Farhanah Misripin. The workshop adhered to the ethical practice on the use of animals according to animal ethics and the experimental techniques were approved by UiTM Care. The program provided hands-on training in various stages of preclinical drug screening including toxicological evaluations. The workshop also rendered practical knowledge for the participants with the design of experiments of drug screening, understanding of various preclinical animal models of disease and the interpretations of drug screening outcomes. The participants also experienced the applications of various statistical methods used for drug evaluation which are suitable of preclinical drug evaluations. The feedback from the participants was encouraging, expressing the accomplishment of good knowledge on drug screening skills. The program was concluded with closing remarks by Professor Dr. Kalavathy Ramasamy, Deputy Dean, Research & Innovation, Faculty of Pharmacy, UiTM.