Introduction:
The Department of Microbiology at Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal established in 1995. The Department actively involves in teaching, research and clinical diagnostic services to the tertiary care hospital and adjoining healthcare facilities in the state. The department comprises various sections viz., Bacteriology, Serology, Parasitology, Mycology, ICTC/HIV surveillance lab and the State Virology Laboratory (SVL). It has sanctioned faculty posts of one Professor, three Associate Professors, four Assistant Professors, One Research Officer, five Demonstrators and five Scientists. The courses offered by the department are MBBS and MD (Microbiology) and actively involves in teaching Nursing and Paramedical students. The intake of MD (Microbiology) candidates is 03 per year. The department has also taken a major initiative in Hospital Infection Control and conducting training to healthcare workers.
The department is well-equipped with modern laboratories to provide quality teaching and research opportunities for students. State-of-art diagnostic facilities like, Automated Culture System, Cartridge based NAAT, Autoanalyzer Immunoassay Chemiluminescence (CLIA), Thermal Cyclers, Automated Nucleic Acid Extraction Systems, Illumina MiSeq sequencing system, and Tape Station DNA-RNA QC Analyzer etc. are available in the department.
State Virology Laboratory (SVL)
In the view of epidemics and outbreaks of viral diseases in the state of Madhya Pradesh, the State Virology Laboratory (SVL) was established in the department in 2018. The primary mission of this lab is to provide diagnostic virology support to public health services. The lab is well equipped with the BSC 2+ lab infrastructure, state-of-art diagnostic facilities, sophisticated equipments, and trained manpower to carry out various viral diagnostic tests. The SVL has established diagnostic facilities for viruses using serological and molecular methods. SVL was the first state government institute in the state to initiate the COVID-19 testing. The lab has tested more than 1.5 million COVID-19 RT PCR tests till date and provided lab services to the countless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Programmes and Projects:
The department has been enrolled with various national and global level programs in strengthening disease surveillance and outbreak control, thus helping the nation and the state in tackling emerging and remerging infectious diseases.
The department is actively involved in various international and national programs like National Measles Rubella Laboratory (NMRL) under the World Health Organization South-East Asia Region (WHO SEARO), National Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Program (NVHSP), National Viral Hepatitis Control Program (NVHCP), National Antimicrobial Resistance Containment Program (AMR), National Rabies Control Programme (NRCP), Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) under the aegis of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) New Delhi, and National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP). The department is functioning as a State Reference Laboratory for Quality Control of ICTC and Blood Banks, HIV II Reference Laboratory for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, State Reference Laboratory for Sentinel Surveillance and State Reference Laboratory for STI/RTI under the National Aids Control Organization (NACO).
The research domain of the department has been significantly augmented by financial assistance obtained from several agencies for various research projects and participating in various nationally coordinated multi-centric research projects.
The department has a very vibrant academic bent and often organizes CMEs/Hands on workshops. The faculty of the department is awarded with many honours, awards, and prizes. Several research projects are conducted by the faculty regularly and papers are published in various reputed scientific journals.
