Although India is slowly unlocking itself, COVID-19 continues to hamper certain activities. One such activity hampered by COVID-19 is the hands-on skill enhancement programs envisaged by the Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI). In a press release to this effect, CDRI has announced the suspension of its seven hands-on skill enhancement training programs for the time being.

“As these are hands-on programs and they cannot be done online so we have decided to suspend them. We would try to resume them as early as possible depending on the situation,” said Dr Vinay Tripathi, Chief Scientist and Skill Development Program Coordinator, CDRI.

“As these are hands-on programs and they cannot be done online so we have decided to suspend them. We would try to resume them as early as possible depending on the situation,”

There were six skill development courses planned under the life science sector and one under the healthcare sector. Under the life science sector, the programs scheduled were (1) computational approaches to drug design and development; (2) advanced spectroscopic (NMR, HPLC, LC- MS, UV/IR) techniques; (3) advanced course on care; (4) management of laboratory animals and experimental techniques, (5) plant authentication, phytochemical extraction; and (6) formulation and HPLC analysis of herbal products, basic training in electron microscopy techniques for life sciences, pharmaceutical product development and quality control.

Under the healthcare sector, pathological tools and techniques for biomedical applications was planned.

CDRI runs these courses throughout the year. Some of them are happening twice a year too. “These courses improve job prospects of trainees as there is limited expertise available in India while there is a great demand for trained manpower in this area. Trained candidates will also have an edge while applying to various research institutes that require practical experience in these techniques,” said Dr Tapas Kumar Kundu, Director, CDRI. India Science Wire