Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Banaras Hindu University (BHU) is going to organise the International Conference on Recent Advancement in Herbal Drug Research (IC-RAHDR-2026) at Prof. K.N. Udupa Auditorium, Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS), BHU, Varanasi from **1-3 November 2026**. The conference is being organised by the Department of Dravyaguna, Faculty of Ayurveda, IMS, and will deliberate on research developments in herbal medicines and approaches to examine traditional medicinal knowledge through contemporary scientific methods.
The aim of the event is to promote scientific dialogue, collaborative research and the sharing of knowledge between researchers, clinicians, academicians and policymakers. The program is expected to address issues like herbal-drug development, pharmacology, quality control, safety evaluation and modernisation of research technologies for medicinal plants and Ayurvedic preparations.
Research themes include phytochemistry, AI and clinical studies
The conference brochure includes a wide range of scientific topics. These include phytochemistry and bioactive compounds, standardisation and quality control, herbal drug formulations, novel systems for drug delivery, ethnopharmacology and traditional knowledge .
Other themes listed include pre-clinical and clinical research in herbal medicine, virtual and laboratory-based research models, and application of artificial intelligence, bioinformatics and computational drug discovery to botanical materials.
The program also identifies transdisciplinary research as an area of interest and potential links with veterinary sciences, engineering, agricultural sciences, basic sciences and social sciences.
These topics are related to the characterisation of plant-derived compounds, the improvement of the consistency of herbal products, the investigation of safety and efficacy, and the development of research methods for the study of traditional medicines. These are provided as topics for academic discussion and research in the brochure . It does not represent clinical findings or suggests that any treatment has been validated by the conference .Ayurveda: A scientific assessment
Focus
The conference organisers say the meeting aims to strengthen research in Ayurveda by applying contemporary scientific approaches, but not losing sight of the philosophical underpinnings of the system. The brochure describes methods and disciplines such as molecular biology, proteogenomics, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, pharmacovigilance, and systems biology.
Pharmacovigilance is the monitoring and assessment of the safety of medicines, and standardisation and quality-control methods can assist researchers to evaluate the identity, composition and consistency of herbal materials and preparations. Clinical research, in contrast, is important for assessing safety and therapeutic effects in humans.
IC-RAHDR-2026 aims to bring these fields of study to a conversation with traditional medicinal knowledge to promote an exchange on the roles of different disciplines in herbal-drug research.
The keynote speakers include academics and researchers from institutions in India and other countries. Please check the official conference website for the latest program and confirmation of speaker details.
Structured abstracts of 350-500 words are requested in Microsoft Word format. The requested structure: title, author, affiliation, background, aim, methods, results and conclusion, with three to five keywords. It says abstracts must be submitted through the form on the conference website by the relevant deadline.
Details of the event and contacts
Event: International Conference on Recent Advancement in Herbal Drug Research (ICRAHDR-2026)
Dates: November 1–3, 2026
Venue: Prof. K.N. Udupa Auditorium, Institute of Medical Sciences, BHU, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India – 221005
Organiser: Department of Dravyaguna, Faculty of Ayurveda, Institute of Medical Science, Banaras Hindu University
Email: Bhuic2026@gmail.com
Phone: +91-9140672915
Conference website: https://sites.google.com/view/icrahdr2026/
