Apeejay student bags award in an international conference 

Arpit Raj is pursuing M. Pharm from School of Pharmaceutical Science at Apeejay Stya University (ASU), Gurugram. The Apeejay student has a keen interest in knowing the new ways of formulating the pharmaceutical dosage forms, which will not only give relief to the patient from their diseased condition, but will also be easy to administer inside the body without any painful process like injection.  “Many novel approaches that we study in our academic duration i.e. Novel Drug Delivery System has attracted me more towards research methodology. Learning about new research studies provides me with confidence to work on the research towards novel formulation,” Arpit highlights. 

Recently, Arpit bagged the second position for oral presentation in an international conference which was themed on ‘Advancement in Scientific Research from Past to Present’. Organised by Rajkamal Science & Management College, Haridwar in association with IPGA State Branch Uttarakhand, Arpit’s topic for presentation was ‘Ocusert: A Novel Approach For Diabetes’. For this achievement, he is very thankful to his parents, mentors and faculty members for guiding him towards the line of research.

Read edited excerpts of the interview: 

Briefly tell us about this oral presentation, how did you prepare yourself?

The one-day international conference was held last month in whichI I presented my research topic. It was an oral presentation and my topic  was  ‘Ocusert: A Novel Approach For Diabetes’. I prepared my oral presentation by studying in-depth from many latest research papers and some review articles, recently published by pharmaceutical magazines. Also, some of my practical results regarding this novel approach helped me in preparing for my presentation.

Why did you pick this topic? How did you go ahead with the research process?

I had chosen this topic because this is the most novel approach for the diabetes treatment by delivering the drug through the ocular region without any side effects. In comparison, the traditional drug delivery system for eye-related problems possess some limitations like less retention time of the drugs in the ocular region, and loss of the drug through drainages, etc. By the use of ocuserts the drug’s retention time in the ocular region not only increases but also shows a higher therapeutic value than traditional eye drops i.e. about 10 times more of ocuserts compared to eye drops as reported with insulin delivery through the ocular region.

How many research papers have you published so far?

I have published 5 research papers so far.

According to you, what are the key skills required to conduct a research study?

According to me, the key skill for research study is that one should have appropriate objectives that must be novel for all and also holds benefits to others. After selecting the particular objective, you must go through the deep knowledge which comes from study of many research papers, review articles regarding the objectives and also be updated with recent advancement in the particular sectors regarding selected objectives like in pharmaceutical sector you must be updated with recent advancement with the topic you chose.

How is your faculty and mentors at Apeejay supporting you in this journey?

Excellent, supportive and always motivating me to do more research work and study.

What are your future aspirations?

My future goal is to work in the Research and Development department in the pharmaceutical industry. As my interest in Research and to formulate the novel pharmaceutical dosage forms that give prolonged drugs delivery with less side effects which provide more therapeutic results in patient treatment procedure.