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I used to be no different from others, struggling to decide on what to pursue after high school.

Until my parents suggested to me, to pursue pharmacy, where there is considerable job stability and a wide variety of career opportunities.

As I read more about this course through the ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University website, I realized the course is composed of subjects that I like and it is a job that I could apply my knowledge to improve the healthy and quality of life of the public.

I realized that I could help treat symptoms of sick people as well as advise healthy individuals on being healthy.

Meanwhile, ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University also offered vast opportunities for its students get involved in research and attachments to foreign countries. Pondering these reasons, I finally decided to enrol into the Bachelor of Pharmacy programme at ÎåÒ»³Ô¹Ï¹ÙÍø University.

I personally believe that a pharmacist should not be restricted to only front line duties, and I enjoy reading on new discoveries and medical innovations that help advance healthcare.

And that¡¯s how I got myself involved in a niche research work on my final year.

Besides learning different skill sets during the research work, I was also given opportunity to present my project at international academic conferences with other researchers from different countries.

I am really grateful that I attended the MET-I-CON 2019 International Conference on Innovation in Pharmaceutical Technologies which was held on 15^th and 16^th February 2019 in Nashik, Maharashtra.

It was a research conference organized by the Institute of Pharmacy of the MET Bhujbal Knowledge City, which served as a platform for researchers, academicians, investigators, industrialists, clinical practitioners and young promising pharmacists to share their research outcomes and thoughts on the advancement of science and technology in regards to the future of the pharmaceutical industry.

As a young researcher, participating in academic conferences are one of the crucial steps for me to learn, improve and grow.

Talks by international keynote speakers not only provide the latest information on pharmaceutical research and technological breakthroughs, but also innovative and ground-breaking ideas for potential research ideas that I plan to do in the future.

I was lucky that I had a chance to meet the speakers in person for advice on my current and future work.

Apart from that, meeting international researchers and scholars of different dispositions and cultures who share the same passion ¨C I cannot describe the excitement I felt in words. It was also a great chance to build my network and connect with people.

At the conference, I presented my research work titled ¡®In vitro superoxide dismutase (SOD) evaluation of leaves and stems of Artabotrys suaveolens¡¯ through the poster.

The topic was chosen because of possible detrimental effects contributed by dietary supplements of non-enzymatic antioxidant.

SOD is an enzymatic antioxidant that is proved to be able to fight against cellular oxidative stress.

The A. suaveolens plant was investigated due to its ethnomedicinal uses. The plant was traditionally used to treat emmenagogue, cholera, enlarged spleen and to relieve postpartum fatigue which some of the uses are related to antioxidant properties possessed by the plant.

This research aims to study SOD enzymatic antioxidant activity of extracts and fractions of leaves and stems of A. suaveolens.

The objectives of this study are to:

(1) extract and fractionate leaves and stems of plant with solvents of different polarity

(2) screen the phytochemical content of crude extracts and

(3) investigate antioxidant activity of the crude extracts of leaves and stems and their fractions using in vitro superoxide dismutase (SOD) assay.

In this study, both leaves and stems of A. suaveolens possess SOD-like activity in which wat