Department of Microbiology

Microbiology · GIMS

About Department

The Department of Microbiology offers a full spectrum of diagnostic services including bacteriology, virology, mycology, parasitology, serology and molecular diagnostics. The department actively supports teaching for undergraduate, postgraduate and nursing students, and leads infection prevention and control activities in the hospital.

Our Vision

To impart quality medical education to MBBS students and postgraduate students pursuing MD Microbiology, enhancing their competency in the practice of clinical microbiology. The department envisions providing state-of-the-art diagnostic services for improved patient management and clinical outcomes. Further, it aims to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) for early detection of microbes and appropriate therapeutic management.

Our Mission

To enhance medical teaching and practical skills by incorporating modern scientific teaching methods, with the aim of upgrading the quality of medical education and strengthening student-centric teaching–learning practices. To effectively implement infection prevention and control measures along with biomedical waste management as essential steps to reduce healthcare-associated infections, and to monitor antibiotic usage by practicing the principles of antimicrobial stewardship. To strive for excellence in biomedical research methodology and scientific writing, with emphasis on encouraging students and faculty to contribute research publications for improved healthcare services and meaningful impact on the community at large.

Department Information

Sr. No.	Heading	Details
1	Name of the Department	Microbiology
2	Department Email	microbiologygims19@gmail.com
3	Date of Establishment	Dec 2017
4	Names and qualifications of Head of Department	Dr (Brig.) Ajay Kumar Sahni MD (Microbiology), Ph.D Microbiology (Virology)

To strengthen laboratory diagnostic services by improving turnaround time and quality control, and to enhance diagnostic capabilities in Bacteriology, Mycobacteriology, Mycology, Virology, and Parasitology.
To strengthen Undergraduate and Postgraduate teaching modules for simplified and effective learning.
To improve educational and faculty training programs to enhance teaching skills and academic training.
To enhance infection control surveillance and preventive measures to combat Hospital Acquired Infection.

To initiate and sustain a Postgraduate module with incorporation of Artificial Intelligence to improve teaching methods.
To monitor patients for ATT response by phenotypic MGIT liquid culture and to monitor antitubercular drug resistance by Line Probe Assay (LPA).
To develop and strengthen clinical microbiology to meet advanced diagnostic and patient care needs.
To formulate Standard Treatment Guidelines based on cumulative antibiogram data for effective AMSP implementation and formulation of antimicrobial policy.
To evolve as an Apex Tertiary Care Referral Centre for Clinical Microbiology training, establishing the role of the microbiology laboratory in diagnostic stewardship and best clinical outcomes of patients.

Facilities Provided – Clinical Microbiology & Virology

Laboratory / Section	Tests / Facilities Available
Bacteriology	Manual Culture & Sensitivity (Urine)
	Manual Culture & Sensitivity (Pus / Sputum / HVS / Throat Swab / Body Fluids)
	Manual Culture & Sensitivity (Blood)
	Automated Culture & Sensitivity (Urine)
	Automated Culture & Sensitivity (Pus / Sputum / HVS / Throat Swab / Body Fluids)
	Automated Culture & Sensitivity (Blood)
	Gram Staining (Pus / Sputum / Body Fluids)
Serology	HBsAg
	Anti-HCV
	WIDAL Test
	VDRL / RPR
	Malaria RDT
	Dengue Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT)
Immunology	Dengue IgM ELISA
	Dengue IgG ELISA
	Dengue NS1 ELISA
	HSV 1 & 2 IgM ELISA
	Scrub Typhus IgM ELISA
	Leptospira IgM ELISA
	Chikungunya IgM ELISA
	Varicella Zoster Virus IgM ELISA
Mycology	KOH Mount for Fungal Elements
Mycology	Fungal Culture (Manual & Automated)
Parasitology	Stool Routine Microscopy
Parasitology	Occult Blood in Stool
Mycobacteriology	ZN Staining (Pus / Sputum / Body Fluids)
	CBNAAT (MTB/RIF)
	TRUENAT MTB
	Line Probe Assay (FL-LPA & SL-LPA)
	Liquid Culture DST (MGIT)
	MPT 64 Antigen Test
Virology (VRDL)	Dengue Rapid Card (NS1, IgM, IgG)
	COVID-19 Antigen RDT
	HSV 1 & 2 Real-Time PCR
	PCR for CMV
	PCR for Scrub Typhus
	Dengue Serotyping (Real-Time PCR)
	Viral Meningitis / Encephalitis PCR Panel
	Multiplex PCR Viral Panel
	Japanese Encephalitis IgM ELISA

Bacteriology – 50-60/day

Serology- 180-200/ day

Parasitology- 1-2/day

Mycology- 4-5/day

Mycobacteriology - 35-40/day

Virology - 90-100/day

Year-wise diagnostic test volume

Diagnostic workload across laboratory sections

Distribution of diagnostic test categories

Monthly OPD patient workload analysis

Inpatient diagnostic sample statistics

Combined OPD–IPD departmental performance

Letter of permission from Medical Council of India vide letter No. MCI-34(41) (E-60)/2019 .Med/ 115574 dated 20th May 2019 for starting MBBS course for 100 students. First batch of 100 students have been admitted and classes has been commenced since 01 Aug 2019.

Research Projects

S.No.	Faculty	Role	Project Title	Funding Agency	Grant / Status
1	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Efficacy of urine based human papillomavirus cervical cancer screening as an alternative to clinician sampling or Pap cytology	Council of Science & Technology, UP	₹5,00,000
2	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Pan India surveillance for respiratory viruses through DHR-ICMR VRDL Network	DHR-ICMR	₹7,32,330 / year
3	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Isothermal amplification based High-Risk HPV (16, 18, 45) testing for primary cervical cancer screening	MRU, DHR, MoHFW	₹8,50,000
4	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Comparative evaluation of manual and ionic tooth brushing on oral health and microbial status of individuals with intellectual disabilities	MRU, DHR, MoHFW	₹1,20,000
5	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Comparative evaluation of blood culture and PCR based methods for early diagnosis of invasive fungal infections in neonates	—	—
6	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Device-associated healthcare-associated infection in ICU COVID-19 patients	GIMS	Completed
7	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Environmental surface sampling in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic	GIMS	Completed
8	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Bacterial and fungal co-infection in COVID-19 patients	GIMS	Completed
9	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Antimicrobial consumption and microbial resistance pattern in ICU patients at a tertiary care hospital in North India	GIMS	Ongoing
10	Dr. Varun Goel	PI	Molecular characterization of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from ICU patients	MRU	Ongoing
11	Dr. Varun Goel	Co-PI	Development of Isothermal-PCR and CRISPR-Cas12 based rapid and portable SARS-CoV-2 detection kit	DBT-BIRAC (2020)	Completed
12	Dr. Varun Goel	Co-PI	Incidence of adverse outcomes and risk factors for mortality among Mucormycosis patients in India – multi-centric ambispective cohort study (2021-2022)	ICMR	Completed
13	Dr. Sneha Mohan	PI	Strengthening the quality of AMR Surveillance using Automated AST Systems	—	—

S.No.	CME / Workshop	Date	Support / Collaboration
1	Workshop on “TB Liquid Culture”	09 December 2025	GIMS
2	Training on “Collection of Samples for Blood Culture”	28 April 2025	BD Diagnostics
3	Workshop on “AMR Frontline”	12 December 2022	Dept. of Community Medicine, Rockefeller Foundation, Ashoka University
4	Workshop on Handling Infectious Biological Material (COVID-19)	30 June 2022	CDC
5	World TB Day – Guest & Faculty Lecture	24 March 2022	Dr. Neha Pathak, BD Diagnostics
6	CME on Antimicrobial Resistance & Antimicrobial Stewardship	04 September 2021	—
7	CME cum Workshop on Recent Advances in CSSD & Infection Control	14 September 2021	Dept. of Anesthesia (3 Credit Hours – UPMC/6691/2021)
8	CME cum Workshop on Hospital Infection Control Practices: Challenges & Solutions	23–24 July 2019	CDC & ASM (8 Credit Hours – UPMC/8489/19)

S.No.	Milestone
1	Organized the “TB Liquid Culture” workshop at GIMS on December 9, 2025
2	Successfully initiated the preparation of a cumulative antibiogram for multiple clinical samples
3	Published seven research papers in high impact journals
4	Certified for Second-line Drug Resistance Testing under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP)
5	Microbiology laboratory received NABL accreditation for a selected scope of parameters
6	PG resident secured 3rd prize in Scientific Poster Presentation in CME on “Recent Advances in Diagnosis and Management of Tuberculosis in Children”
7	Successfully participated and passed EQAS conducted by the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists for the past four consecutive years

To develop as a tertiary referral Microbiology diagnostic laboratory for infectious diseases.

Develop Microbiology subspecialties

To establish state of art BSL-3 laboratory to work with exotic infectious viral and bacterial agents.

To develop genomic surveillance laboratory to detect variation and nucleotide mutation.

To improve research in the department with extra mural research projects from ICMR or other research institutions.

To improve infrastructure and rapid diagnostic test to reduce turnaround time.

To organize conference at state level and participate in the national level conference.

VISION PLAN - DEPARTMENT OF MICROBIOLOGY

Present Status	Next 1 Year	Next 5 Years	Next 10 Years
Diagnosis UG Teaching Research	To enhance number of diagnostic capabilities in bacteriology , Mycobacteriology , Mycology , Virology and parasitology Development of UG modules for simplified teaching. Improvise educational and Training programs	To establish Viral Diagnostic and Research lab. To establish BSL-3 Laboratory Laboratory Accreditation from National bodies To start academic teaching programs- Post-Doctoral Certificate Course, MD/DNB/PhD. Hospital Infection Control Certificate Programme Mycrobacterium tuberculosis and NTM diagnostics with 1st line & 2nd line drug sensitivity testing	Develop Clinical Microbiology subspecialties To be an Apex tertiary care referral center in Clinical Microbiology services in UP
MBBS		MD (Microbiology), Certificate courses in sub specialities

Department of Microbiology

Department Gallery

UG February Teaching Schedule

Date	Time	Topics	Venue	Batch	Faculty
02-02-2026	9:30–10:30	Immunological disorders, immunodeficiency states and laboratory methods of its detection	LH	—	AKS
04-02-2026	9:30–10:30	Immunological mechanisms in hypersensitivity, autoimmune disorders and immunodeficiency states	LH	—	HM
04-02-2026	2:30–4:30	OSPE Exercise & Clinical Short Case Discussion	PL	A	VG, JB, DM, KD
05 Feb 2026 – 12 Feb 2026 : AAGAZH
13-02-2026	2:30–4:30	OSPE Exercise & Clinical Short Case Discussion	PL	B	SM, KS, KM, DD
14-02-2026	10:30–11:30	AETCOM	LH	—	VG
16-02-2026	9:30–10:30	Immunology of transplantation, tumour immunity and applications	LH	—	SM
18-02-2026	9:30–10:30	Rheumatic fever	LH	—	AKS
18-02-2026	2:30–4:30	Tutorial – Culture media, culture methods, clinical cases & staining	PL	A	HM, KS, KM, DD
First Term Examination : 20-02-2026 to 26-02-2026
27-02-2026	2:30–4:30	Tutorial – Ziehl Neelsen staining of sputum smear	PL	B	VG, JB, KD, DM
28-02-2026	10:30–11:30	AETCOM	LH	—	SM

PG February Teaching Schedule

Date	Day	Teaching Program	Time	Presenter	Moderator
03-02-2026	Tuesday	Seminar – Biofilm & Quorum Sensing	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha	Dr A K Sahni
06-02-2026	Friday	Culture Exercise – Pus Sample	11:30–12:30	Dr Mamta	Dr Harmesh Manocha
10-02-2026	Tuesday	Journal Club / Short topic: TSI Test	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha / Dr Mamta	Dr Varun Goel
13-02-2026	Friday	Short topic – LOA, Oxidation & Fermentation tests	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha	Dr A K Sahni
17-02-2026	Tuesday	Serology Exercise	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha	Dr Sneha Mohan
20-02-2026	Friday	Short topic – Catalase, Coagulase, Oxidase tests	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha / Dr Mamta	Dr Harmesh Manocha
24-02-2026	Tuesday	Fungal Culture Exercise	11:30–12:30	Dr Diksha	Dr Sneha Mohan
27-02-2026	Friday	Seminar – HAI Surveillance	11:30–12:30	Dr Mamta	Dr Varun Goel

Results – Last 3 MBBS Batches

Batch	No. of Students	Passed	Distinctions
2021-22	94	89	14
2022-23	100	100	11
2023-24	100	100	04