By Dear Well-wishers,
I am heartened to connect with you through this April 2021 edition of Oviya MedSafe‘s newsletter (the 103rd in the series since April 2012), thanks to the heartfelt compliments you extended to us for having entered into our 10th year of life as an organization. In this issue, I wanted to highlight a couple of our recent achievements and underline how our flair for excellence has always been instrumental in ensuring our growth.
On 30-Nov-2020, I announced that Oviya MedSafe had been chosen as the exclusive global pharmacovigilance partner for a clinical trial of a EU-based biotech company for their novel therapeutic product for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The study is in full swing now and we as a team are proud of the meaningful contributions we have been making in defining the safety profile of an innovative treatment option for this unprecedented condition.
Today, I am prouder to state that Oviya MedSafe has recently won a similar positioning with another renowned multinational clinical trial sponsor that is developing a promising vaccine for COVID-19. When the whole world is in search of preventive and therapeutic agents to address this indication, we feel privileged to be able to have been involved in the scientific quest for both. Amidst the unenviable situations many of us have been forced into because of this mammoth problem, we derive a sense of fulfillment in that our organization has been able to become part of the solution, radiating hope to our suffering brethren.
At this time, I am reminded of how my individual virtue of excellence got noticed for the first time in my professional life and how I being appreciated for exhibiting excellence at my workplace as a postgraduate medical student not only paved way for a phenomenal change in my career but also ingrained excellence as a key tenet in Oviya MedSafe, the organization that I later created. I believe that my desire and decision to pay forward to my team members the motivation I received from my teacher is indeed the direct reason for this evolution. Very few would be privileged enough for this to be documented, not by the student but rather by the teacher himself. I am pleased to share with you the verbatim account as follows:
// I once noticed that one of the fellows took detailed, elaborate notes. He clearly had a talent for writing, which seemed to be far above that of the other fellows. One day, when I saw him write, I casually told him, ‘I think you have the makings of a writer in you.’
The kind, encouraging words of seniors can often have a life-changing impact on young practitioners-and that’s exactly what happened. After the fellow completed his course, instead of practising diabetes full-time, he took up pharmacovigilance (a field that involves the preparation of copious amounts of written records) and immersed himself in intensive research on drugs. In subsequent years, he rose through the ranks in his chosen field and won a lot of recognition. //
The above excerpt is from the Penguin-published book ‘Making Excellence a Habit‘, an autobiography of India’s leading diabetologist Dr V Mohan, whom I have been fortunate to have as my teacher. One of the few practising doctors in India who has contributed to research, education and charity in such a large measure, ‘Making Excellence a Habit‘ documents the fundamentals of what makes a person achieve meaningful success. Irrespective of the mention about me, I found this book to be a phenomenal source of encouragement to any young person daring to dream big in life. If you wish to own a copy of this book and get inspired to achieve much more in life, please visit this link.
My joy doubles at this juncture, as I also had the honour of inviting Dr V Mohan to write on “Are Antidiabetic Drugs Safe in the Long Term?” for the March 2021 edition of Global Forum, a Drug Information Association (DIA) publication for which I am the India Regional Editor. That I have been able to edit an article penned by the person who taught me to write scientific papers speaks a lot about his generous professionalism rather than my evolved proficiency. Kindly click here to read this opinion piece.
Before concluding, I wish to inform you of two virtual events that I am actively involved in and would like to you to consider attending. The first is a webinar organized by the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Standing Committee for Pharmacovigilance of which I am the Chairman. Scheduled for the 4:30 pm to 6 pm IST slot on Thursday 20th May 2021, the International Clinical Trials Day, the webinar will have Dr Nilima Kshirsagar, Emeritus Scientist & Former National Chair of Pharmacology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) speaking on “The Role of Clinical Trials in Assuring the Safety of Medicines“. Please click here for the Zoom link to join the webinar. No registration is required.
The other event I mentioned is titled “International Pharmacovigilance Days 2021” and is scheduled for 14-18 June. I have been invited to represent India as a panelist in the roundtable session “GVP-like legislation outside Europe: overlap and differences“. It is my honour to get yet another opportunity to showcase India’s achievements in pharmacovigilance on an international platform. Kindly visit the event website for details on registration and the fees.
Waiting to meet you through our May 2021 newsletter,
With thanks & regards,
Dr J Vijay Venkatraman
MBBS, F. Diab., MBA, FPIPA (UK)
Managing Director & CEO,
Oviya MedSafe Pvt Ltd,
Coimbatore, India
Phone: +91-422-2444442
Director,
Oviya MedSafe UK Ltd,
London, UK
Phone: +44-8452-733839
Web: www.oviyamedsafe.com
Mail: info@oviyamedsafe.com
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