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 Shri C. B. Patel Research Centre for Chemistry and Biological Sciences was established in December 1991 as an Institute of Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal. From the very beginning the Research Centre had a defined mission: to conduct inhouse applied research on problems of national importance and to carry out time bound, contractual R&D work for Industry. In addition to research, the Centre was also expected to train and develop scientists and technologists. A review of the progress of the Centre from its inception indicates that the Centre will not only fulfil the given mission but will do a lot more.
The first few years of the Centre were preparative years during which the essential infrastructure was established. It was in mid 1994, the first full time appointments of the research staff were made and within a span of about 4 years the Centre has touched several milestones. E.g. It has been recognised by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India, as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (SIRO) first in 1994. It is also recognised by the University of Mumbai under Section 84 of the Maharashtra University Act as a Research Institute to register students for M.Sc.(By Research) and Ph.D. programmes from 1996. Its Scientists have completed several projects leading to more than 50 peer reviewed research publications in National and International Journals. They have also presented a similar number of papers at different conferences, both National and International. The Centre has been Internationally recognised for its work on Supercritical Fluid Extraction and Chromatography as is evident by the fact that one of its scientists has been invited to contribute a chapter on SFE/SFC for the book, Methods in Molecular Biology, to be published by Human Publishers, UK. Using the same technique the Centre has developed a patented process for the extraction of active compounds from neem plant.
The Trustees of Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal had envisioned the Centre to be totally autonomous and independent. Accordingly a separate Trust was created in 1996 to direct the activities of the Research Centre. Recognition from the Drug Controller General of India (DCI), New Delhi allowed the SPC Biokinetic Study Centre to undertake Biokinetic and Bioavailability studies for pharmaceuticals companies. All revenue surplus generated by these activities is used to develop basic and applied research projects.
It is well known that a wide gap exists between the training imparted to students undergoing University Courses and the requirements of industry. Fresh graduates coming out of the portals of Universities/Colleges are thus inadequately trained for manning posts in Industry. The need of the hour, therefore, is vocationalisation. Unfortunately, Universities/Colleges, because of inadequate financial resources, lack the infrastructure necessary for providing vocational training. In view of these facts the Research Centre, because of its autonomy and therefore flexibility, was charged to develop programmes for vocational training. The success of two such programmes (DMLT & DIAC) has culminated in the establishment of the Dr. K. H. Gharda Institute for Post B.Sc. Diploma courses. The most important feature of this course is that the syllabi can be regularly modified and upgraded so as to keep pace with the rapidly changing requirements of the industry or other end users of this human resource. Additionally the institute also conducts modular training programmes for B.Sc. students in field of Microbiology, biotechnology & Instrumental analysis.
In addition to the above, the Research Centre has plans for undertaking several other projects in Biochemical and Biological fields. For example the Centre is engaged in the analysis of herbal products, not only to determine their active components, but also to develop suitable methods of standardization of the Herbal / Ayurvedic products. Such standardized drugs will significantly increase the export potential of these products. The tissue culture laboratory is developing techniques for the micropropagation of medicinal plants as well as plants commercially used in floriculture.
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