Dr Ravi Sekhar Kasibhatta has held numerous clinical research and development roles in some leading pharmaceutical companies. He has also worked as a Sr. Scientist at Aurobindo Pharma.
Today, he’s the Senior Vice President at Lupin Limited, where he conducts BA/BE studies for the most regulated markets in support of generic product development.
In this episode, he talks about the challenges he faced while transitioning from medical research to outsourcing businesses and ultimately product development.
Dr Ravi also covers:
Paving the way towards being a good leader:
People automatically connect leadership to excellence. However, as Dr. Ravi mentions, it is an inclination to learn. For our guest, leadership is the motivation to learn how research is helping everyone.
He further mentions that every leader should have the desire to learn more and have an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of a basic individual. In his field, one learns through analyzing a person's biochemical parameters, patient demographics, treatment, and data. All this is possible through the data and the numbers available. One has to put a lot of effort into understanding these numbers, their outcomes, and ways to make them more effective for managing patients.
To sum up, Dr. Ravi feels leaders must have a zeal for learning.
Challenges while transitioning career paths:
The main challenge that Dr. Ravi faced while transitioning his career was the different ways of working between the two fields. Academics do not have hard and fast rules to be followed. However, in chemical research, there are plenty of regulations. Every act by a researcher needs to be recorded well. Every action is taken as an evidential basis for the research outcomes.
In addition, chemical research involves a lot of work to pick the right product for the market. This research is a very challenging domain, and Dr. Ravi decided to take it up because of his motivation to learn and contribute to the community.
Challenges prevailing due to the hybrid work model in the medical research domain:
Dr. Ravi feels that Indian culture has been dependent on in-office work. Here, virtual communication can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings. Hence, comprehension is required to make the hybrid work model a success. However, the kind of knowledge, tools, and modernization coming into the picture has made it very convenient. He further mentions that there has not been much difference in the field of medical research. Plenty of startups and big companies have worked on tools to make it easier for them. However, it might have been difficult for rural India. But these places are showing progress as well. The virtual platforms have created a different world of communication hence improving comprehension. The hybrid work model has been helpful to increase productivity and provide work-life balance.
However, our guest and his team do need to go to certain locations for different reasons. Getting permissions has been challenging for them at times.
But, overall, human connectivity has improved. It proves as a benefit for businesses as one needs to understand the end consumer’s requirements. The hybrid work model can work with the correct training, recruitment, and learning.
Follow Dr Ravi Sekhar on LinkedIn
Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige