Department of Microbiology

We share a common mission of growing together. We aim to produce microbiologists of excellent caliber, who have acquired diagnostic skills of common and uncommon infectious etiologies, have developed good technical, research, and teaching skills, and at the same time being sensitive to the needs of the society and environment while practicing ethical code of conduct.

Vision statement :

We are committed to provide quality education to all our students with equal emphasis on state-of-the-art as well as essential relevant knowledge in a congenial environment that promotes mental as well as spiritual health.

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The Department of Microbiology plays a seminal role in the diagnosis and treatment of patients presenting with infectious diseases in Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The department was established in 1962 and it comprises of the Bacteriology, Parasitology, Immunology Tuberculosis, Enteric, Virology, Viral Research& Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), and Mycology Laboratories. It has sanctioned faculty posts of one Professor, three Associate Professors, five Assistant Professors, and five senior Residents. The courses offered by the department are MBBS, BDS, MD, PhD, and Professional courses. The intake of MD (Microbiology) candidates is 05 per year.

The research domain has been significantly augmented by financial assistance obtained from several agencies for various research projects. Seven such projects sanctioned by ICMR, U.P. & UPCST have been completed (https://amu.ac.in/department/microbiology) and Seven projects are currently running. The latter projects have been funded by UPCST, DHR, SERB, NACO, and ICMR (https://amu.ac.in/). A recent welcome development is the establishment of Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory and line probe assay for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its associated drug resistance, a project for the diagnosis of scrub typhus has also been commenced. This state-of-the-art technology will radically reduce the turnaround time for Mycobacterium tuberculosis detection from 8 weeks to 3 days along with information on the status of drug resistance. This was facilitated by Central TB Division PATH & FIND and the entire setup cost approximately Rs 2 crore. The Department is the State Reference Centre for HIV as well as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). Biannual EQAS workshops are organized for HIV technicians to maintain quality control.

The thrust areas of research are the use of molecular methods in diagnosis and drug resistance in bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections and the use of Nanotechnology in the field of antimicrobials. The focus amongst the hepatitis viruses is genotyping of HBV, SEN virus, and occult hepatitis B virus. Immuno-pathogenesis of HBV is being conducted for the first time in India. In mycology, the thrust areas are mycotoxins and the assessment of antifungal susceptibility by different methods. In parasitology main stress is in-vitro, in vivo & genotypic detection of drug resistance of P. falciparum.

The focus of the department remains continuous progress in the field of patient care and diagnostics; to provide state of art diagnostic facilities especially to the deprived sections of our society, to reduce the turnaround time, and to keep a vigilant eye on the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of the bacterial and fungal pathogens. Approximately 60,584 investigations were carried out last year. The revolving fund has enabled us to add newer investigations in various laboratories such as ELISA, and PCR. The dedicated faculty members have an excellent record in both teaching and research. The faculty has a large number of international and national research publications and presentations to their credit. The faculty is ably assisted by an energetic and talented team of junior residents and senior residents are the efficient technical staff. The department is deeply committed to upgrading the existing infrastructural facilities so as to provide quality patient care and enhance diagnostic and research activities.