About the Department

Objective

The Department of Microbiology was established on November 1st, 1976. In 1978, Dr. S. Subramanian was appointed as the Professor and Head of the Department . He initiated various research programs in the areas of diarrhoeal diseases, microbial toxins, and viral infections, particularly Hepatitis B virus. He also initiated international research collaborations with Universities and institutes in the United Kingdom. Later the department was headed by Dr.S.P. Thyagarajan (Former Vice-chancellor of University of Madras). During his tenure the department had grown tremendously and the department's research activities received National recognition and the department was recognized as ICMR-Regional Referral Center for Hepatitis B virus. In the year 1981, a Master's Degree program (M. Sc. Microbiology) was initiated, which is a 3 year Degree course under the Faculty of Medicine. A Doctor of Medicine (MD) Degree course was also started in the same year. Many research projects have been completed since then and research collaborations with eminent scientists such as Dr. Blumberg, (a Nobel Laureate), Dr. Eric Walker, and other well known international scientists were established.

 Dr Elanchezhiyan Manickan is presently the Head of the Department. The Dept has research funding from several national agencies such as ICMR, UGC, DBT. Ministry of Earth Sciences. 

Mission

• To train students in the field of Microbiology, provide value based education, with commitment to academic excellence and innovative research.
• To undertake research activities relevant to present day needs, in areas such as emerging infections, opportunistic infections, and drug development.
• To establish a good diagnostic Microbiology department which can function as a referral centre for city hospitals for some specified diagnostic tests.