Novartis hosted the 10
th India edition of BioCamp, its Biotechnology Leadership Camp, from September 23
rd-26
th at its office in Novartis Knowledge City, HITEC City Hyderabad. The theme for this year’s BioCamp was “
Future of Medicine”. Through dedication and effort, I count myself lucky to be the one from SCMHRD to be chosen for this amazing event.
A total of 50 participants were selected after several rounds of assessment aimed at filtering candidates. The selected participants were then invited to spend four intense days of learning through lectures, case studies, and interacting with the top leadership of the pharmaceutical industry. My fellow participants came from different backgrounds such as medical, pharmaceutical, pharmacology, research, and management education.
This was an amazing experience for me. When I arrived at the hotel where we were being accommodated by Novartis, I was welcomed with a bag, some great books and goodies. The organizing team from Novartis had everything covered in terms of facilities and necessities for the participants throughout the event.
The event saw many C-suite executives of the leadership team of Novartis, from within India, as well as the world, come down to Hyderabad to interact with bright-eyed students from reputed institutions across the country. The first evening was an ice breaking session, with the participants being welcomed by Dr
Ashwini Mathur, Head Data Sciences, Novartis Ireland. It was an evening full of interaction and light-hearted games for the participants and the hosts.
The main event kick-started the next day. The welcome address by Mr Milan Paleja, Country President, Novartis in India, had the attention of everyone present. It was followed by a speech by
Dr Julius Vaz, Global Program Head, Global Health DU, GDD, Novartis India. The entire three-day event featured talks from various leaders and entrepreneurs like
Dr. Mahesh Iyer, Co-Founder, Sineflex Solutions LLP,
Mr. Mayur Bhargava, Business Head, IHD, Neurosciences & Established Medicines, Novartis India, and
Mr. Chetan Mallik, Head Communications NBS, Novartis India.
One of the highlights of the event was the opportunity to meet so many exciting fellow students from across the country. These were students who were pursuing various courses across different domains like pharmacology, medicine, and management. The peer learning from them and the opportunity to know about different things from their perspective opened up a new way of thinking and understanding. I also got a chance to make new friends, who I hope to stay in touch with for life!
I thank Novartis for hosting such an event which was such enriching and fruitful in experience.