Dr. Ashok Vaidya, a leading clinical scientist, had his undergraduate and postgraduate medical education at Seth G. S. Medical College, Mumbai. He belongs to the fourth generation of Medicine and Ayurveda. His ancestor- Aryavaidya Mayaram Sunderji was a renowned Ayurvedic scholar, author and an expert vaidya. Dr. Vaidya has inherited his archives and notes.

He was awarded the Merck International Fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology for advanced research training in U.S.A. At Yale Medical School, he was at the Cardiology Clinic and the Section of Clinical Pharmacology, with a research focus on hypertension and biogenic amines. He worked on amine and peptide secreting tumors-pheochromocytoma, Zollinger- Ellison syndrome and mastocytosis. Later, he was at the CIBA Research Centre and KEM Hospital, Mumbai for Phase I, II and III clinical trials on new molecules, and for research on natural products at Podar Ayurvedic Hospital. He was the first who did GCP clinical trial of Benazepril. He has been in academic activities in the planning and execution of the GCP training courses like Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Courses conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research at Seth G.S. Medical College, courses in Clinical Trials Methodology with Association of Medical Advisors to the Pharmaceutical Industry of India and the courses organized by the Government of India-AYUSH, IASTAM, IDMA and ADMA, local medical/Ayurvedic colleges.

He retired from CIBA as Medical Director and dedicated himself to scientific research in Ayurveda and new drugs, at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan’s SPARC. Dr. Vaidya has pioneered the new discipline of Reverse Pharmacology for new drug development from Traditional Medicine. Currently, he is in charge of the ICMR Advanced Centre of Reverse Pharmacology at MRC-KHS, Mumbai. His research in Ayurveda has contributed new modalities in Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, hepatitis, arthritis and cancer.

Dr. Vaidya has received several honours and awards. The major ones are – Lifetime Achievement Award and Sir Ramnath Chopra Award by Indian Pharmacology Society, Prof. U. K. Sheth Oration Award in Clinical Pharmacology, Shri B.V. Patel Memorial Award, Dr. S L Bhatia Oration, Rotary Distinguished Service Award, Dr. K.N. Udupa Award for scientific research in Ayurveda and Aryavaidyan Varrier awards etc.

He has been the President of the Indian Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Association of Medical Advisors to the Pharmaceutical Industry. He has been on the editorial boards of several journals. He has been a consultant to WHO, CSIR, ICMR, DBT, CCRAS and several industries and research councils. Dr. Vaidya has traveled extensively nationally and internationally, as he has been a much- sought speaker at scientific conferences and meetings on Ayurveda/ Medicinal plants. He has more than 250 research publications to his credit. His students and colleagues, trained by him in clinical drug research and Ayurveda, occupy important positions in academia and industries.