Interview of Dr. Santosh Thakkar: A Passionate Scientist

We recently had the pleasure to interview Dr. Santosh Thakkar, who currently works at Amgen Inc., USA. It was a brilliant brainstorming session wherein he gave us a glimpse into his vision which is as vast as the horizon. Even after achieving laurels in the field of pharmacy, the dynamism and passion which he exudes is evident in this interview. He spoke about his journey right from his early days. It began with him as a student in Government College of Pharmacy, Karad (Maharashtra) to working in the USA. He has initiated an impressive Movement which he has christened ‘Transformation Pharmacy’. Read the excerpts below!

Pharma Literati: Can you brief our readers about yourself? Your educational background, specialisation and your college days?

Dr. Santosh: I completed my Bachelors in Pharmacy from Government College of Pharmacy, Karad (Maharashtra), India and pursued my Masters in Biopharmaceutics from the same university. I worked on Stabilization of cephalosporin antibiotics using cyclodextrins. I went on to further pursue an integrated course of M.S and PhD in biomedical sciences (research focus: cellular drug delivery via membrane transporter proteins and cancer research) at the Medical College of Georgia in the United States of America. However, I could not pass my first year exams due to which I wasn’t allowed to continue the course further. That is when I started working at the Medical College of Georgia as a research technician. I worked as a research assistant on several projects. I used to help several post doc fellows during which my interaction with them grew manifold. I worked with several Indian as well as Japanese, American postdoc fellows. Dr. Ganapathy and Dr. Prasad took note of my work and decided to give me independent projects. These projects along with my experience of lab work at the Medical College of Georgia helped me secure admission for M.S/ PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at The University of Kansas. I worked on Immunoglobulin dynamics and stability, Biophysical characterization of macro-molecules, Preformulation, formulation and stability of macro-molecules, Viscosity of high concentration macro-molecular drugs etc. during my tenure at University of Kansas.

Pharma Literati: Has anyone from your family studied pharmacy?

Dr. Santosh: Yes. My father was a pharmacist who graduated in 1971 from Government College of Pharmacy, Karad and completed his Masters from Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagpur. He worked in industry, retail pharmacy and academia (retired as a Principal of a pharmacy institute in rural Maharashtra). . Now he helps teach and empower high school kids in Karad and surrounding region for free.

Pharma Literati: Who made an impact on you during graduation? Especially any particular teachers?

Dr. Santosh: All my friends and professors made an enormous impact on me during my college life in India and in USA. To name one single person is not quite right. However, Dr. Kuchekar (now principal of MIT Pharmacy College, Pune) made an impact on me in India (He was my guide during my Bachelors as well as Masters.) and Dr. Russ Middaugh (he was my mentor during PhD work in USA).

Pharma Literati: How do you motivate yourself?

Dr. Santosh: Movies like ‘Glory Enough for all’, ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Pay it Forward’ and more keeps me motivated. In ‘3 Idiots’ movie, I can identify with the character played by Amir Khan in the film. He is shown to be pro teaching, innovation and passionate. Also, Steve Jobs still is a relentless source of inspiration for me. I try to inculcate positive things from my role models. Hence I believe that Sardar Patel’s organisation, Gandhiji’s way of life and Shivaji’s passion for his work is what keeps me motivated and hungry for future challenges.

Pharma Literati: How do you think the pharmacy profession has changed in India in the last 15 years?

Dr. Santosh: 15 years ago, very few people were aware of this stream of science. Now, the situation has changed and people have a fair idea about Pharmacy as an education field. I feel, however, though that pharmacy profession in India needs to be transformed and the standards and respect for pharmacy should be similar to a lot of countries such as USA, Canada, UK etc. Also, clinical trials in developing countries need to be fair and, standards and remuneration should be similar for all the countries conducting clinical trials across the globe. That is when pharmacy profession will truly get its due.

Pharma Literati: What advice would you give to the students currently pursuing pharmacy?

Dr. Santosh: I would like to advise young students studying pharmacy to pursue higher education and involve in research early on. For example, diploma students can help M.Pharm students with their research. And, B.Pharm students should initiate their own research during 2^nd or 3^rd year itself. I tell them to develop a mindset which is leaning towards innovation rather than rote learning. We can help students interested to pursue this through ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ Movement. The free web portal for such activities is ‘www.globaltransformationgroup.us. (a fully functional website will be ready in 3 – 4 weeks).

Pharma Literati: Tell us more about ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ Movement.

Dr. Santosh: It is a movement aimed at transforming pharmacy education and culture. It originated in my mind when I was going through the dictionary. I happened to read something about static electricity. On reading further explanation about it, I came across the word ‘transformation’. I instantly took a fancy to this word and started thinking on the lines of what I would like to transform. Hence I thought of education, healthcare, social sphere, global peace, political consensus etc. We would like to encourage all the readers to think about their own activities they would like to transform and connect via website, email (thakkarsantosh@gmail.com) or WhatsApp (+1 785 393 9672).

Pharma Literati: So how do you plan to go about ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ Movement?

Dr. Santosh: We have several plans. Initially, we plan to give free ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ movement t- shirts to all the college students in India (that is our hope). We would like that students wear these t- shirts proudly as a mode of awareness of our Pharmacy profession. We plan to distribute these t-shirts through various colleges, universities and social settings. Besides, we also plan to put up billboards at various places throughout India and encourage people to inculcate and spread ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ Movement. Again, the end goals of “Transformation …” movement are education, healthcare and social activities. ‘Transformation Pharmacy’ is one of the aspects of the overall transformation movement.

Thank you all. It was a pleasure speaking to the Pharma Literati Team.