Research - Pharmacology


The faculty in the department have conducted studies involving animals as well as humans. They pioneered in pre clinical studies in epilepsy models. Estimation of plasma drug levels with omeprazole has been conducted in the department. Animal studies with plant products like shankapushpi, curcuma longa and ashwagandha have been carried out.

The focus of clinical studies is cardiovascular disorders. Observational studies like CREATE registry (Dr. Denis Xavier) - Treatment and outcomes of acute coronary syndromes in India, FRIENDS (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Atiya Faruqui, Dr. Mangala Rao) - an observational prospective study of practice patterns and outcomes in chronic disease in an urban family practice in Bangalore, SPECTRUM (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Atiya Faruqui, Dr. Mangala Rao) - Situational analysis of practice patterns and treatments in cardiovascular diseases in India, VISION (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Atiya Faruqui) -A large international multi-centre cohort study evaluating major vascular events in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery have been completed.

Faculty have also lead clinical trials like MARS (Dr. Padmini Devi, Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Mangala Rao) - A Study to compare the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Metoprolol and Amlodipine with its individual components, TIPS 1, 2 and 3 ((Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Deepak Kamath)– evaluating the polypill and POISE 2 (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Mangala Rao) - Placebo-controlled, factorial trial to assess the impact of clonidine and acetyl-salicylic acid (ASA) in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery who are at risk of a perioperative cardiovascular event. A systematic review of all the cardiovascular studies conducted in India has also been conducted. (Dr. Padmini Devi, Dr. Mangala Rao, Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Atiya Faruqui)

Papers have been published in leading journals like NEJM, LANCET and JAMA.

Currently studies like PROGRESS (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Deepak Kamath, Dr. Padmini Devi) - Policy and peer mentor intervention programs on cardiovascular disease at small to medium sized worksites in 3 South Asian countries ; MANAGE (Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Mangala Rao) - an international randomized trial evaluating dabigatran 110 mg twice daily and omeprazole 20 mg once daily in patients who have suffered myocardial injury following non-cardiac surgery (MINS) and medication adherence among geriatric patients (COMPASSION- Dr. Denis Xavier, Dr. Atiya Faruqui) are ongoing.

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