This Conference was planned as per the instructions received from the following.

1. Dr.G.Subrahmanyam, Director, Narayana Medical Institutions, Nellore,
2. Dr.B.A.Ramakrishna, Principal & Dean, Narayana Medical College, Nellore,
3. Dr.Narasimha Reddy, Med Superintendent, Narayana Medical College Hospitals, Nellore,
4. Dr.S.Vijay Kumar, Chief Academic Coordinator, Narayana Medical College, Nellore.

The following faculty members organized the Conference, with the help of the College Administrators.

1. Dr.KSVK. Subba Rao, Organizing Chairman, Hospital Administrator, Superspecialities,
2. Dr.V.Chandrasekhar, Organizing Secretary, Coordinator of Medical Education Unit.
 

The authorities decided to organize the Conference in the last week of March, 2013.    After discussions, it was decided to invite delegates from all medical colleges in the country and that registration would be free.  Five eminent persons of national/international repute would be invited as guest speakers.    After hectic efforts by Dr.Subba Rao, the following speakers agreed to come and participate as Resource Persons.

1. Dr.Ramesh Chandra Deka, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi,
2. Dr.S.P.Thyagarajan, Professor of Eminence & Dean (Research), Sri Ramachandra Medical University, Chennai,
3. Dr.G.Bhaskar, Professor of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati,
4. Dr.C.Adithan, Professor & Head of Pharmacology, Jawarharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry, and
5. Dr.K.Madhavan Nair, Scientist – E, National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad.

     The registration was started even before 09.00 AM. About 200 delegates from the Medical, Dental, Nursing, Pharmacy and Physiotherapy Colleges of Narayana registered for the Conference. They were the faculty members and postgraduates from the above Institutions.

Inauguration of the Conference: 10 AM to 11 AM.

Dr.G.Subrahmanyam, Director, Narayana Medical Institutions, Nellore, presided over the Inaugural Function. The other dignitaries who inaugurated the Conference were, Dr.BA.Ramakrishna, Principal & Dean, Narayana Medical College, Dr.Narasimha Reddy, Medical Superintendent, Narayana Medical College Hospitals, Dr.KSVK.Subba Rao, Organizing Chairman, Dr.Ramesh Chandra Deka, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and Dr.SP.Thyagarajan, Professor of Eminence & Dean (Research), Sri Ramachandra Medical University, Chennai.

After a melodious prayer song on God Vighneswara, Lighting of the Lamp was done by the dignitaries, symbolically invoking the blessings of all Gods for good learning. Dr.Subba Rao, Organizing Chairman, told the audience how within a short time, he could get these eminent speakers to help us as Resource Persons. Dr.Subrahmanyam, Dr.Rmakrishna and Dr.Narasimha Reddy in their speeches, high-lighted the importance of Research in general, and that of National Research in particular. They encouraged the faculty members to keenly follow the deliberations, so that they can apply for research grants and successfully do fruitful research, not merely for their career advancement, but also for the benefit of the Narayana Medical, Dental, Nursing and Paramedical Institutions.

Dr.Ramesh Chandra Deka, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, was the first speaker. He discussed about the importance of research, how to select an area, how to stay focussed etc. He was our star speaker, due to his national and international eminence. He discussed elaborately on the different ideas and how to proceed. The audience highly appreciated his discussion.

Tea was served after this speech.

After tea break, Dr.SP.Thyagarajan, Professor of Eminence & Dean (Research), Sri Ramachandra Medical University, Chennai, was invited to deliver his speech. He presented information about the medical colleges and the facilities available in the country. He observed that in government medical colleges, there was too much load of work and poor facilities. He discussed about various studies like, Case-Control studies, Cohort studies, Randomized Controlled trials etc. He discussed the basics of statistics and epidemiology with reference to research activities. He considered the problem of ethics, especially in human trials. He told us about the ICMR networking and mentoring of research, ICMR funding etc, in great detail. We were informed the current thrust areas for research and the amount of grants that may be granted, etc.

At 1 PM the lunch was served.

In the post-lunch session, Dr.G.Bhaskar, Professor of Zoology, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, was invited to deliver his speech. He discussed about the Research in Medical Colleges. He told about the types of research, and then presented the top research activities in the world’s most famous universities/institutions like, Oxford, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, John Hopkins, Pennsylvania etc. He then focussed on Indian organizations like, ICMR, AIIMS, NIMS, NIMHANS etc. He discussed about the great medical discoveries and historical developments like heart transplant, kidney transplant etc. He inspired us by telling about the Nobel Laureates in the field of medicine, and about their contributions. He discussed about the contributions by our institutions for the advancement of medical care in our country.

With this speech the programme of first day ended at 3.30 PM

The first lecture was delivered by Dr.C.Adithan, Professor & Head of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER), Puducherry. He started by discussing about the importance of research in general. He discussed about how to submit proposals for research grants. He told us that if we have publications, we can apply successfully. We should begin with small funds of ad-hoc research for Rs.1 lak to Rs.5 lak first. He gave detailed information about various departments from where we can try to get funds. We could ask for funds from other departments like, Science & Technology, Agriculture, Forestry, Women & Child Welfare etc, In addition to ours. One can go to web-sites of these departments and search for information. The guidelines are available in the web-sites of all departments. Once upon a time, it was difficult to get funds. Now funds are available with several departments.

Tea was served after this speech.

Next session was by Dr.K.Madhavan Nair, Scientist – E, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad. He gave us a brief history of National Institute of Nutrition, since its inception in 1918. We were informed about the history and development of the Institute. He further discussed about the objectives of the Institute, research programmes of the Institute, contributions like anaemia prophylaxis, vitamin A prophylaxis etc. Then he focussed on micro-nutrients, 13 vitamins and 14 minerals. The problem of non-availability, ignorance, cultural aspects, etc, were discussed thread-bare. He further stressed the importance of epigenetics.

All speakers were honoured with shawls and memetoes.

The Conference ended with a brief valedictory function. Dr.Subba Rao, Organinzing Chairman reiterated the importance of the research activities. Dr.Subrahmanyam, Director brilliantly summed up by quoting verses from scriptures and encouraged the audience to do research. Dr.V.Chandrasekhar, Organizing Secretary, proposed vote of thanks.

All delegates and guests were invited for lunch.

Thus, the 2-day Conference ended successfully.