Villa College in coordination with Villa Foundation and Auburn University, USA conducted a symposium on “Exploration and implementation of precision Medicine Focused Healthcare” on 05 March 2024.
The symposium was held to familiarize students, teachers and those working in the field of pharmacy in Sri Lanka with "Precision Medicine Focused Healthcare for Pharmacy". The symposium focused on the development of new medical drugs and the importance of understanding pharmacogenomics or the effects of medical drugs and their relationship with human genes, facilitated by Auburn University Professors Dr. Muralikrishnan Dhanashekaran, Dr. Gary Piazza, Dr. Courtney Alexander and Dr. Tim More and Ph.D. students of Auburn University.
Furthermore, a panel discussion was held on the challenges in the delivery of higher education in the field of pharmacy in the Maldives. The panel consisted of notable names in the health sector of Maldives including Director General of Health Services Dr Ahmed Ashraf, Registrar of Maldives Allied Health Council, Mr. Ubaidullah Thoufeeq and Director Pharmaceutics of Maldives Food and Drug Authority Mr. Mohammed Fazeen. The panel was moderated by Villa College Senior Lecturer Dr Afsar Shaikh of the Faculty of Health Sciences. The symposium explored important aspects within the pharmacy discipline which is beneficial for students, educators and industry personal to expand the services provided to the community and provided with new knowledge to aid in expansion of the scope and role of the pharmacy professionals in the community.
Villa College has commenced its Bachelor of Pharmacy program in 2023 and currently there are 43 students enrolled in certificate level 4 and Bachelors of Pharmacy program collectively.