I joined Dabur Research Foundation when it had begun taking significant steps to develop its pharmaceutical business focused on cancer in the early 1990s. A body of work was done to get into cutting edge areas of drug discovery with sharp focus on targeted drug delivery. This coincided with the time when globally a need to move into personalized medicine for life threatening diseases was felt with a goal to improve clinical outcomes. I was privileged to be a part of this exciting journey.

The Dabur Research Foundation team worked tirelessly to take a pipeline of compounds through their preclinical development to first-in-human clinical experience. One of products, Nanoxel, was developed for cancers of the ovary and breast with the objective of reaching better clinical outcomes than the existing choices. This successful progression of Nanoxel from the laboratory to the reach of patients in India and outside is easily the finest moments of my professional career.

At a personal level, meeting my husband and the birth of my daughter were significant milestones of my life. My family has provided me unconditional support and love and has been my greatest strength all the way. At a professional level, working on targeted drugs that have improved survivals and quality of life of cancer patients have been the major milestones.

As a young girl I saw death in close family and learned much later that some of the key life saving drugs was not available in India in those years. It definitely changed my perspective and I was clear that drug discovery needs discipline, commitment and speed at all times to come. The simple thought that this career impacts lives of others was a turning point.

At Dabur Research Foundation, we started working on personalized medicine in oncology in early 1990s. Those were the days when very few biologically targeted drugs had received global regulatory approvals. It was challenging to design and take these compounds through preclinical and clinical development because it was different from the models of development that existed at that time, which were more aligned to development of synthetic cytotoxics. It was one of the greatest learning experiences & we could take these compounds ahead with confidence in the rationale & the rigor of the data that was generated around them.