Who we are?

05.09.2020

Teachers Day Message  

At the outset let me thank all the Teachers who made us what we are today.

As we all know the birth date of the second President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, i.e. 5 September is commemorated as Teacher's Day in India, since 1962. 

I was a veterinary doctor working in Kakinada started my career in June 1961. 

Two months later, I happened to listen to The Teacher, the great Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who laid the foundation stone of a college - Rangaraya Medical College. He was then, the Vice President of India (later the President of India). He was not only a teacher but a highly learned man and a Philosopher whose speech rings in my ear even today, though I cannot remember much of what transpired then.

But I was immensely impressed by his personality, nobility, and eloquence in oratory skill, using Victorian English which was as much an unforgettable experience to me as it was to the audience present there

Delivering an address on Teachers Day is a great responsibility; so I thought I start from my own days as a student, when I started learning the subject, the culture and the responsibilities of a good student from my then teachers, whom I respect even today. 

I am sure many of you may not remember, few years from now as to what I said today, but yet I wish to make few observations based on my learning, teaching, guiding and mentoring for the past 60 years, which may be of use to you someday.

i. In my days, we grew up with SLIDE RULER, which many of you have not even seen it, leave alone using it. We depended on what is taught in the classrooms, and a few studious ones go to the Library to enhance their knowledge.

ii. Everyone listening to me today has a smart phone where you have the wealth of information on your palms through Google and its applications. 

iii. I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, with new gadgets and Apps, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. 

iv. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fate, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself as to what important lessons I have learned in the 60 years that I have experienced.

I have come up with two answers. 

1. One is learning from Failures. 

2. Second is the Importance of Imagination.

These may seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me, I will tie them together at the end.

A. Learning from failure: 

1. Fear of Failure will push us away from experimenting and taking bold decisions. One must be mentally strong enough to take the path you choose without the fear of failure. Some of us want to simply emulate or more accurately copy others and take their path because any other diversion may lead to fiasco. That does not mean that we do not evaluate the risks, challenges and difficulties while choosing our goal.

2. I stopped pretending to be myself that I was anything other than what I was and began to direct all my energy into achieving the goal that mattered to me and took the path that I strongly believed in, without bothering what someone else has done. 

3. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been eliminated, and I am amidst you with the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life in TOXICOLOGY.

4. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena of TOXICOLOGY that I believed in and I truly belonged to. 

5. You might never fail overall, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something and sometime, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you failed by default.

6. Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing board examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way.

7. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, as it is painfully won, and it has been worth more than any formal qualification one has earned.

8. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many supervisors of any age who confuse the two. 

9. Life is difficult, complicated, and beyond anyone’s control and you should have the humility to know the same. Yet one should have the courage that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes or misfortunes.

B. Imagination:

1. Imagination is the unique human power to foresee that which is not apparent. Imagination is the foundation of all innovation. 

2. Think of Gregor Mendel in 1865 who enunciated the Law of Inheritance, without knowing chromosome, genes, and genetic coding, which we all are very familiar. What Mendel had at that time were some experimental facts on breeding of peas and plenty of imagination. 

3. Every day of my working week in my early 20s (in India) and later in US, I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, where freedom is a way of life.

i. Now many of you must be thinking of all the negatives that you experience in India, at home, at work, in society, but then that is what life is all about. 

ii. Instead, think of all the positives, India has achieved in 7-decades a Nuclear Power, Digitized Economy, Software Capital of the world etc. considering where we started after 800 years of foreign rule, which left the country penniless and masses in poverty.

4. I also learned more about human goodness from the writings of Abraham Lincoln, Swamy Vevekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandala and many more who had the imagination and courage to follow their chosen path which no one of their times had.

5. All of us have the power of imagination. But most prefer not to exercise our imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortable within the bounds of our own learnings and peer experiences, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to fly into the unknown and the unchartered territory. 

6. Once I was in a London Art Museum where I saw at the end of that Classics corridor written by the Greek author Plutarch: “What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality”. This statement expresses, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people’s lives simply by existing.

7. Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, your cultural upbringing, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities to explore the unknown by IMAGINATION.

i. Abraham Lincoln fought (and gave up his life) with his own white people to tell them that Slavery and Segregation is WRONG

ii. Swamy Vivekananda taught the Essence of Hinduism to the whole world

iii. Mahatma Gandhi fought the Mighty British Empire and liberated all of us from foreign rule

iv. Martin Luther King – humiliated by segregation and liberated blacks in US

v. Nelson Mandela was in Jail for 27-years by oppressive white rule, who later became the President of South Africa. 

C. Now let me combine the Learnings from Failure and Imagination together and ask the question as to what you can be a model for youngsters who are yet to experience both failures and imagination

1. Choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice. 

2. Choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless. 

3. Retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then, it will not only be proud to your families who celebrate your existence, but thousands, if not millions of people whose reality you have helped change. 

4. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside us: 

a. we have the power to IMAGINE and you only need to have the courage to take the imagination to its logical end.

5. Succeeding in life is easy, as long as you believe in yourself. 

6. Trust yourself, and success will come along.  

7. Remember that every problem is a challenge to prove yourself and a skill to be learned, practiced, and implemented for the benefit of the mankind.

D. Now Coming to Toxicology: 

i. Toxicologists are not made in a day, a month, or a year. It takes decades of work, learning and solving real experimental challenges and hardships to become a toxicologist. 

ii. Hence, patience is the key, continuous learning is the MANTRA to upgrade and uplift yourselves. 

iii. One should not look for a job in toxicology but look for PASSIONand career in toxicology. 

iv.  I am sure you understand the difference between a job and Passion/Career. 

v. Do not be afraid of failures, keep learning from your failures which is a part of life and keep Imagining which God almighty has endowed in you. 

vi. Use your learning and your imagination to make your life and the life of people around you better than what is it today

Thanks to this platform. 

I wish you all to get greater success in your life. 

Thank-you very much.

K.S. Rao

28.03.19

Dear Management/TFM/CEO/Vice President….

Subject: Request for donations

ToxGurukul is a group of professionals in the field of toxicology who are in search of a platform to learn and share the vast knowledge in this area. This platform belongs to Independent professionals from different backgrounds of toxicology who share their knowledge to un-puzzle the Rubik’s cube that each face in their daily work routine. Our primary goal is educating the next generation of Toxicologists in India to get ready to serve the country in any capacity in Academic, Government and Industry at large and bring them to Global Standards to make them Second to None for competing with the Global Community. We also maintain a list of credible independent Toxicology Experts who are available as  honest third party experts to offer our independent opinions on matters of national and international importance.

We are pleased to advise you that as of  March 2019, we have Registered our organization with the Government of India (attached letter)  as “ToxGurukul Foundation” as a Non-Profit Organization. 

In this connection, we accept any and all donations from any Sponsor, which will be used STRICTLY for educational purposes.  Fully audited annual accounts will be published in a transparent fashion on ToxGurukul Foundation website (www.toxgurukul.org.in), hence, there is completed transparency and accountability of your donated funds.

Most corporations have special funds DEDICATED for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities which are intended social causes.  Those funds that are not used by 31st March (of each fiscal year) automatically expire.  In this context, we are approaching you to see if there is any residual CSR funds (NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL) at your organization that you wish to donate from your 2018-19 fiscal year CSR funds to ToxGurukul Foundation.  You are welcome to send your funds directly (electronically) to the following bank account:

Bank Name: Kotak Mahindra Bank, F.C. Road Pune

Bank Account number: 3913 01 1774

IFSC Code: KKBK0001769

PAN Number: AAHCT 22885

We thank the Dr. Naik (Management of Intox) for their donation of 2018-19 Fiscal Year CSR funds to the tune of 1.35 Lakh Rupees to the ToxGurukul Foundation.

We are hoping that you may consider doing the same to the extent possible.

By way of our activities, we are sharing (attached) the latest report on Proceedings of Risk Assessment on Personal Care Products (PCPs) and Cosmetics which was held in Ahmedabad which was attended by 200  participants and was the most admired workshop ever by all participants.

Conference proceedings (Download)

- Dr. K.S.Rao 

ToxGurukul Team Members

Name: Mrs. Benita Saklani Maindola 

Contact Phone: (+91) 93128 - 62512 (or) 93196 -74788 

(or)

Name: Mr. Alex Thomas

Contact Phone: (+91) 97454- 450045

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11 March, 2019

Dear Friends: 

Subject: Appeal to Management groups in India

As a Board member, I attended the American Board of Toxicology (ABT) meeting in Baltimore (at SOT) and found to my shocking revelation that the over-all average passing rate in DABT is 82%.  However, the passing rate among the subset of Indian candidates is only 35%, which is really VERY DISHEARTENING  to me personally, with all the efforts we have made in the last 9-years.

I truly believe, bulk of the management in India (sorry to say), may not be appreciating the value of having a DABT in your establishment.  Please ask any of the candidate in India who have passed.  The exhilaration among those who have passed is something you will never get by simply giving pay raises.

I appeal to all management to consider doing something in your own way to encourage your employees to appear and pass the DABT in India. I am in no position to advise you, but please use your own techniques.

One of the incentive that comes to my (not the only one one) mind is to consider sending the freshly passed DABT from your institute to attend the Annual SOT meeting in US for one year, which can be a rewarding experience for your employees.  The cost of such an endeavor is no more than 1.5 Lakhs, which most companies blow away on unproductive ways.

I truly believer, Indian candidates are as educated and are as intelligent as anyone in the world, but they deserve some kind of incentive from you, the management, to create an environment to consider you employees for appearing and passing DABT.

This is an unprecedented request not normally done (I am taking a personal risk), but I do care for Indian candidates and I want them to be successful in life.

- Dr. K. S. Rao 

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22 December, 2018

Dear Friends:

Subject: ToxGurukul Website  Announcement

It is a momentous occasion for all of us to have our own Website.  I welcome all of you to use the website for the benefit of all.  This should be a nucleus of common ground for toxicologic communication and learning to improve your talent and advance your careers.  I see there is a lot of Latent Energy in all of you.  I want to see the innate Latent Energy in all of you be converted into Kinetic Energy for the advancement of knowledge to achieve the pinnacle in toxicology and compete globally.  Finally, it is essential that the Kinetic Energy be converted into Radiant Energy, a form of energy transmitted through space where you will start helping others., which results in a community of informed toxicologists who will advance the society at large.

Toxicology consists of drugs (small and large molecules), chemicals, pesticides, nutraceuticals, vaccines, medical devices, food, environment, different species, including humans.  In addition, we have various organ toxicity, mechanisms of toxicity, pharmacokinetics which is  an integral part of toxicology.  Simply knowledge of these agents is not enough, but you need to devise experiments to innovatively test such agents both in vitro, in vivo and of course where possible through in silico also.  In this process, one should consider all avenues, including surrogate animals, when needed in a humane way.  In any testing program (in vitro or in vivo), transparency, accuracy, and repeatability are of paramount importance to infuse confidence in the public at large and to future generations.

The granddaddy of all is the science of risk assessment to individuals, population, industrial workers, agricultural/pesticide workers, bystanders, infants, pregnant women, aged and diseased individuals etc.  Not to forget the environmental toxicology which is far more important to leave our environment as pristine as possible to future generations.  The process of risk assessment will assist the field of regulatory toxicology to Government institutes to manage various agents in a rational way.  There is no one human being who can and will know on all of these aspects.  It is a continual process of acquiring knowledge which in turn will result in a better society.

I wholeheartedly welcome all of you to share your knowledge and experiences and learn from each other’s expertise to reach that promised land – WISDOM.

- Dr. K. S. Rao 

Aishna Sagar, Aurigene Discovery Technology

Alex Thomas, Cipla Ltd

Amol More, APT TESTING AND RESEARCH PVT LTD

Anand Swarup Kolla, Dr. Reddy's

Anil Gothi, Vivo Bio Tech

Anirban Mallik Thakur, Cipla Limited

Appalaraju Gorle, Biocon Limited

ARABINDA ADAK, Aurigene Discovery Technologies   Limited

Ashish Upadhyay, imedglobal

Ashish Doshi, Dr.REDDY'S lab

Ashutosh Joshi, Dr Reddy's Laboratories

Beena V, CSIR IITR

BENITA SAKLANI MAINDOLA, LBPL

BHISMA NARAYAN PANDA, SHRIRAM INSTITUTE FOR INDUSTRIAL   RESEARCH

Carol Rodrigues`, Jubilant Biosys Limited

CHALIMETI PRAVEEN KUMAR, Sipra labs Ltd

Chandra shekhar, Vivo Bio Tech

Chandraiah Godugu, NIPER Hyderabad

Charamanna KB, Aurigene discovery technology limited

Chethan N, Toxminds

Chhavi Prakash Jindal, Dr Reddy's

Chilvery Shrilekha, NIPER

CHITTURI SREE VENKAT   SATISH KUMAR, syngene international

CM Kalpana, imedglobal

Darshan Vaghela, Parul University, Vadodara

deepak ujawane, jrf

Deesha Ukey, Edara research foundation

Dhirendra Singh, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology   Research

Dr Mohmadsadik Mulla, Vimta Labs Limited

Dr Sateesh Belemkar, SPTM SVKMs NMIMS University   Mumbai

Dr. Agam Shah, Dr. Reddy's Laboratory Limited

Dr. Atoshi Mukherjee, Vivo Biotech

Dr. B. Anil Kumar, College of Veterinary Sciences

Dr. B. Kalakumar Kalakumar, College of Veterinary Sciences

Dr. B. Rajendar Rajendar, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Balaji Madrewar, Independent Consultant

Dr. C. Vinaya Sree, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Dhanya Nair, Cipla Ltd

Dr. G. Swapna Swapna, College of Veterinary Sciences

Dr. K V S Narayana Raju, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

Dr. K. Aparna Aparna, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. K. Sneha Sneha, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. K. Vanitha Sree, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Niraj Dahe Niraj, rcc lanoratories india private limited

Dr. Nisaath Begum, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. P. Manaswini Reddy, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Ravi Kiran Chilivery, Vimta Labs

Dr. Saik Maimona   Parveen Parveen, College of Veterinary   Science

Dr. Sushma Sushma, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Tummala Srinivas Reddy, College of Veterinary Science

Dr. Venkata Sesha   Kanthikiran Varanasi, Dr. Reddy's   Laboratories Ltd

Dr. Y. Ravikumar Ravikumar, College of Veterinary Science

Durgesh Nandan Shukla, Vns Group of institution, faculty   of pharmacy, bhopal

Fareed Chowdary, iMEDGlobal Solutions India   Private Limited (an FMD KL Company), 729, 5th Main Rd, 3rd Phase, J. P.   Nagar, ,

Gada Srawan Kumar, Nalanda college of pharmaceutical   Sciences

GANESH GURHALE, IMEDGLOBAL

GANGADEVI VINOD, NIPER HYDERABAD

Gariganti Rajeshwar Harika, Biocon

Gera Jemimah, Joginpally BR Pharmacy College

GOPUMADHAVAN S, The Himalaya Drug Company

Gudimetla Kiranmai, Gitam School of Pharmacy, GITAM,   Hyderabad

Hanumanth Gada, RCC laboratories India Private   Limited

HEMA BINDU, DR. REDDYS LABORATORIES

Hema Latha Turlapati, NIPER-Hyderabad

Hyndavi Yechuri, Drreddys

Hyndavi Yechuri, Dr.Reddys Laboratories

Jaiprakash Bhelonde, Vanta Bioscience Limited

JAYACHANDRA K C, eurofins advinus ltd

Jayasri Kandhala, Vimta labs ltd

JAYSHREE SHINDE, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories

Jeevan Yewale, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd

Jerald Mahesh Kumar, CSIR - Centre for Cellular   and Molecular Biology

Jomy Jose, RCC LABORATORIES INDIA PVT LTD

K. Rupa Rani, DRL

K. S. Rao, Eurofins Advinus

Kalaiselvan Ponnusamy, Syngene International Limited

Kalyani Derangula, Vivo Bio Tech

Kavya Bandaru, imedglobal

KIRAN D A, LIVEON BIOLABS PVT LTD

Kishore Rewatkar, Dr Reddys

Krishna Chaitanya, imedglobal

KRISHNAMURTHY M, KCC Biolabs

Krutik Andhariya, IDS infotech Ltd.

Krutik Andhariya, IDS infotech Ltd.

Kushal Kumar Rapolu, imedglobal

Leelakrishna   Chowdary Anumolu, Dr. Reddy's   Laboratories

LIKITH N.G, Eurofins Advinus

Madhan Kumar Rose, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited

Madhav P, Mylan Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd

Madhusudan P Goravanahally, Syngene International Ltd

Malati Vakamulla, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd

Malleshappa C. O., Syngene International Limited

Mallikarjuna Rao Dasari, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited

mamillapalli archan kumar, aurigene discovery   technologies limited

Masireddy Narender Reddy, Vimta Labs Limited

MIRZA RIZWAN BAIG, The Himalaya Drug Company Makali,   Bengaluru 562 162, India

Mohan Rao K, Dr Reddys Lab. Ltd.

Mukul Pore, ToxGurukul Foundation

muvvala saipriya, NIPER

NAGARAJU AKINAPALLY, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories   Limited

Nagula Naresh Kumar, syngene international limited

Narendra Kumar Bhimavarapu, Student

Naveen reddy, imedglobal

Naveen kumar, Vivo biotech

NAVEEN KUMAR R, AURIGENE DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGIES LTD

NIVYA SHARMA, NIPER HYDERABAD

Padmaja Vemula, NIPER

PANKAJ SHELAR, LUPIN LIMITED

periyasamy m, jubilant biosys ltd

Porchelvan Velayutham, Intox

Prabu P C, Tanuvas

Pradeep Kumar, Corteva Agriscience

Pradeep Dadisetti, imedglobal

Pradeep Kumar A, imedglobal

PRADEEP KUMAR H R, SYNGENE INTERNATIONAL LTD

PRAFULL SHRIVASTAVA, Aurigene Discovering   Technologies Limited

Prasanna Raja, Natural Remedies Pvt Ltd

Praveen Gupta, Prado Pvt. Ltd.

PRAVIN PISE, AURIGENE DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGY LTD.

Puppala Sri Lakshmi, Pharmalex Inida Pvt Ltd.

Purelli Archana Reddy, rcc lanoratories india private   limited

Raja Teja Jala, Nalanda institute of pharmaceutical   sciences

RAJASEKHAR JALADI, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited

Rajesh Jadav, Torrent pharmaceutical limited

RAJESH ESWARAPPA, Aurigene Discovery Technologies   Ltd

Rajkumar S, ADAMA

RAJKUMAR KUTANI, Dr Reddy's Laboratories

Raju Boyapally, Vivo Bio Tech

RAKESH RAJENDRAN, RCC LABORATORIES PVT LTD

RAMADEVI KALLAM, Dr.reddys

RAVI SANKAR VENU MADHAVA, DR.REDDY'S LABORATORIES   LIMITED

Ravichandra Bv, Dr. Reddy's laboratories Ltd

Ravindra Mahajan, NIPER HYDERABAD

Renuka Pillai, Aurigene Discovery Technologies   Limited

S P MUTHUKUMAR, CSIR - CENTRAL FOOD   TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Sachin Raman Dangra, Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd

SaiKiran Yanala, NIPER-Hyderabad

SALIM TAMBOLI, Lupin Ltd.

Sandeep Sahu, Vns faculty of pharmacy

SARITA SAKLANI, lps

SARVODDAY SINGH RATHORE, SHRIRAM INSTITUTE FOR INDUSTRIAL   RESEARCH

Satyanarayana Chinthanippula, Dr reddys IPDO Bachupally

Satyavani Godavarthi, Vivo Bio Tech

Sayali Tekalkar, NIPER Hyderabad

Seema Balani, Vimta Labs Limited

Selvam Ganapathy, International Institute of   Biotechnology and Toxicology

Shaik Reshma, Vimta labs ltd

Shamsur Rahman, Research Manager

Shekar Chelur, Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd

Shriharsh Bijargi, Novartis

Shrikant Satale, Dr. Reddys laboratories Ltd

Sidharth Bichpuria, Dr. Reddy's lab ltd

Sowjanya Thatikonda, NIPER Hyderabad

SOWMYA BHARATH, INTOX PVT LTD

Sri Lakshmi Yannani, Mylan Pharmaceuticals

Sri Veena Udatha R, Corteva Agrisciences

SRINIVAS PITTALA, BEN GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

SRINIVAS SEEKALLU, Anthem Biosciences Pvt. Ltd

sriswetha Meka, Joginpally B.R Pharmacy college

Subashini Panneerselvam, Syngene International

sundararaju Dodda, Laila Nutraceuticals

Supriya Kadari, Corteva

Swamynath Reddy Mungala, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited

Swathi Sri Kilaru, Nalanda institute of pharmaceutical   sciences

Swetha Gayathri Sardi, Dr.Reddys laboratories

Syeda Sabika Fatima Raizvi, rcc lanoratories india private   limited

Tarun Balani, IQVIA

Vamsi Mohana Reddy, Freyr Solutions

Veena Lakhwani, Eastman

Veerakasireddy Nakka (Hyderabad), imedglobal

Veeresh Kumar B, Corteva Agriscience

Venkata Rao, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University

Venkataramana Reddy, vidyaherbs pvt.ltd

Venkatesh Pooladanda, NIPER Hyderabad

Venugopal Yerragunta, Indian Immunologicals Limited

Vijayabalaji Venkatesan, Aurigene Discovery Technologies   lImited

Vijetha Akkineni, Freyr Global Solutions

VIMLENDRA KUMAR SRIVASTAVA, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories   Limited

vishal pavitrakar, Lupin

Vishwajeet Mohan, ToxMinds

YOGESH GUPTA, DR. REDDY'S LABORATORIES LIMITED