A delegation from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Department of Chemistry, led by the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Professor Rod Walker, is currently in India building collaborative research and educational ties with the School of Pharmacy at KLE University, in Belgaum, India.
The visit coincided with the 15th Annual Conference and 1st International Convention of the Indian Society of Pharmacognosy held at KLE University. All seven members of the delegation were given the opportunity to present either plenary or invited lectures at the pharmacognosy conference.
“We have been overwhelmed with hospitality since we arrived and the conference provided an initial platform to showcase the diversity of pharmaceutically based research presently being carried out at Rhodes University from quality assurance studies on African complimentary and traditional medicines to marine biodiscovery. It was an ideal opportunity to publicise our University in general, and the Faculty of Pharmacy in particular, to over 800 delegates from across the Indian sub-continent and surrounding countries,” Professor Walker commented from India.
The delegations’ visit to Belgaum follows on from the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Vice-Chancellors of Rhodes and KLE University in December last year during the visit of KLE’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Chandrakant Kokate, to Grahamstown.
“Being here on the ground it is very easy to see why KLE University is one of the A rated medical universities in India,” Professor Walker said. “The opportunities for a mutually beneficial partnership in many aspects of pharmacy teaching and research are enormous and we are here to explore various avenues of collaboration,” he added.
The delegation toured the world class 2200 bed (of which over 1000 are “free” beds for the disadvantaged communities) teaching hospital at KLE University’s Belgaum campus, the adjacent Indian Council for Medical Research facilities, the traditional medicine based Ayurvedic Hospital and the College of Pharmacy at both Belgaum and the Hubli campus of KLE University. While in Hubli Professor Davies-Coleman also took the opportunity to present an invited research lecture in the Department of Chemistry at Kanartak University.
“It is clear that there are similarities in the challenges facing health care professionals in India and South Africa and that this growing collaboration can only be beneficial to academic staff and students in both countries,” Prof Walker reiterated.
The delegation included Professor Kanfer who has been appointed as an Honorary Professor at KLE, Professors Davies-Coleman and Srinivas, Dr Skinner, Director of the Biopharmaceutics Research Institute, Professor Vikash Sewram who is a research associate in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Dr Sannassie a post-doctoral research fellow in the Marine Drug Discovery Research Institute and returns to South Africa this weekend.
From left to right: Professor Mike Davies-Coleman, Professor Izzy Kanfer, Professor Rod Walker, Dr Vikash Sewram (MRC), Professor Srinivas Patnala, Professor Sunitha Srinivas, Dr Mike Skinner and Dr Sunny Sannassie.