Wkshop: Medical writing at Delhi: Dec 2008

[Guest guest]

Indian Pharmacological Society

Pre-conference Workshop

Title: Getting Started in Research and Scientific Communication

Venue: All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Dates: 16th and 17th December 2008

Research is undertaken to discover, interpret, revise and improve scientific knowledge

and concepts in any one facet of a major subject of specialization. The goal of research is

to produce new knowledge. Any research requires clear, operational, analyzable and

interpretable previously defined formulation contained in a study protocol. Then, what is

a protocol? A protocol (experimental or clinical) is a roadmap for research which stems

from the outline of the study plan to form the basis for a competent and competitive

research and grant proposal. A systematic and step-by-step approach is necessary in

planning the details of a study. Without a plan there can be no experiment. The protocol

is developed to address a single study/aspect and is written by a postgraduate or an

investigator before the study begins.

The four cornerstones needed to develop a research protocol are a researchable topic, an

objective, a hypothesis, and focus points or research questions. What we visualize at the

beginning of a study will largely define what we will do, how methodically (GLP) we

will do it, how we will collect and analyze it, how we will interpret the findings and

finally what it will bring us in developing our scientific career and benefiting the society.

The objectives for the workshop are to develop a good fundamental understanding on the

conceptual information associated with the pursuit and successful development of a

research protocol, and presentation of research findings in a journal. The format of the

two-day workshop will include key lectures followed by focused breakout sessions in

writing a research protocol and structuring a research paper. The first day introduces the

process of getting started in research followed by two `interactive breakout sessions'

where participants, in small groups, can delve into writing a research protocol, data

analysis and apply statistical principles. The second day is on communicating research

in scientific articles, and structuring a research paper. We will demonstrate, in three

`interactive break-out sessions', how to present data and place an argument, and how to

answer research question and hypothesis in a manuscript.

Workshop Conveners: Dr. G. Jagadeesh, Expert Pharmacologist, Division of

Cardiovascular and Renal Products, US Food and Drug

Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA

Dr. Y.K. Gupta, Professor and Head, Dept Pharmacology,

All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

If you have any suggestions or concerns on the topics covered in this workshop, kindly address them to the

workshop organizers, Dr. G. Jagadeesh and Dr. YK. Gupta, by email: jagadeesh49@...,

yk.ykgupta@...

Tentative Schedule

DAY 1 (Dec 16)

Part A: Getting Started in Research

8:00 am Registration and Breakfast

8:30 am Welcome Dr. Y.K. Gupta

Prof., Dept Pharmacology,

AIIMS, N.Delhi

8:35 am Introduction

Dr. G. Jagadeesh

Expert Pharmacologist, US

Food and Drug Administration,

Silver Spring, MD, USA

8:40 am Expectations from and impact of the

workshop

Dr. Amitabh Prakash

Editor, Wolters Kluwer Health

| Adis, NZ

8:45 am

Faculty introduction

8:55 am Workshop inauguration

9:05 – 9:30 am Coffee break

9:30 am

(30 min)

Thinking, Logic, Reasoning and Critical

thinking in research

Dr. Sreekant Murthy

Professor of Medicine, Drexel

University, Philadelphia, PA,

USA

10:00 am

(30 min)

Basic steps into research and writing a

research protocol

Dr. G. Jagadeesh

Expert Pharmacologist, US

Food and Drug Administration,

Silver Spring, MD, USA

10:30- 10:45 am

(15 min)

Discussion on both topics plus break

10:45- 11:00 Coffee Break

11:00 – 11:45 am Finding the information and searching the

literature, reference style and common

errors with referencing

Dr. Ravikumar Peri, Group

Leader, Wyeth Neuroscience,

Philadelphia, PA,USA

11:45- 12:15 pm

(30 min)

How to write and organize a thesis

Dr. Y.K. Gupta

Prof., Dept Pharmacology,

AIIMS, N.Delhi

12:15- 12:30 pm

(15 min)

Discussion

12:30 – 1:30 pm LUNCH

INTERACTIVE SESSION 2 PM – 5 PM

1:30 – 1:40 pm Group allocation

1:40 – 2:40 pm Writing a protocol/proposal on a given

topic #1 for Group A

Dr. G. Jagadeesh

1:40 – 2:40 pm Writing a protocol/proposal on a given

topic #2 for Group B

Dr. Y.K. Gupta

1:40 – 2:40 pm Writing a protocol/proposal on a given

topic #3 for Group C

TBA

1:40 – 2:40 pm Writing a protocol/proposal on a given

topic #3 for Group D

TBA

2:40 – 3:00 pm Session break and move into 2nd session

3:00 - 4:00 pm Statistics, parametric for Group A,B

3:00 - 4:00 pm Statistics, non-parametric for Group C,D

Dr. R.M. Pandey, Professor of

Biostatistics, AIIMS, New Delhi

4:00 – 4:15 pm Coffee break

4:15 to 5:15 pm Statistics, parametric for Group C,D

4:15 to 5:15 pm Statistics, non-parametric for Group A,B

Dr. R.M. Pandey, Professor of

Biostatistics, AIIMS, New Delhi

DAY 2 (Dec 17)

Part B: Scientific Communication

8:00 am Registration and Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00 am Learning how to write a good scientific paper. An

overview of paper structure

Dr. K. Satyanarayana

Senior Deputy Director

General, ICMR, New

Delhi

INTERACTIVE SESSION 9:00 AM – 1 PM

9:00 – 9: 10 Group allocation

9:10 – 10:15 Results: presentation and exercise for Groups A,B

Dr. Shripad B.

Deshpande Prof of

Physiol, IMS BHU

9:10 – 10:15 Language and style, and Peer review for Groups

C,D

Dr. Amitabh Prakash

Editor, Wolters Kluwer

Health | Adis, NZ

10:15- 10:35

Coffee Break

10:35 – 10:40

Group crossover

10:40 –11:45 am Discussion: presentation and exercise for Groups

A,B

Dr. Rakesh Aggarwal

Dept of Gastroenterol.,

SGPG Inst Medi Sci.,

Lucknow

10:40 –11:45 am Results: presentation and exercise for Groups C,D

Dr. Shripad B.

Deshpande, Prof of

Physiol, IMS BHU

11:45 – 11:50 am Group crossover

11:50 – 1:00 pm Discussion: presentation and exercise for Groups

C,D

Dr. Rakesh Aggarwal

Dept of Gastroenterol.,

SGPG Instt Medi Sci.,

Lucknow

11:50 – 1:00 pm Language and style, and Peer review for Groups

A,B

Dr. Amitabh Prakash

Editor, Wolters Kluwer

Health | Adis, NZ

1:00 – 2:00 pm LUNCH

2:00 – 3:00 pm Assessment, Feedback, and Comments by

participants

3:00 pm

Presentations by granting agency officials TBA