I am currently working as Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Pt.JLN Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India. I have been in academics/teaching field for more than 23 years. I also had an opportunity to work as part-time Assistant Professor in Microbiology, Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere for 22 years.

Educational background

My entire schooling was in Kendriya Vidyalaya (partly in Amritsar and largely in Chennai) since my father was in Indian Air Force. I completed B.Sc in Botany, Zoology and Chemistry during 1990-93. After that I pursued Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Medical Microbiology at Kasturba Medical College at Mangalore during 1993-96. This was a three-year course, which included one year study of human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. I successfully completed my dissertation on infections among pregnant women with bad obstetric history by Chalmydia trachomatis. I was awarded Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the faculty of medicine by Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research (a deemed University) at Kolar, Karnataka in 2015 for my extensive research on ESBL producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae.

Work experience

My role as a teacher began at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, a government medical college at Bellary, Karnataka, where I rendered my services during 06-02-1997 to 18-12-1998. Thereafter, I shifted to Davangere, where I worked as Lecturer between 19-12-1998 and 31-07-2007, after which, I was promoted as Assistant Professor. After working for nearly twenty years at JJMMC, I had brief stints at Saraswati Medical College, Unnao (near Lucknow) and Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Government Institute of Medical Science and Research, Srinagar (Uttarakhand) as Associate Professor.

Academic responsibilities

My academic works include teaching medical and dental students by way of didactic lectures and practical exercises in the laboratory. Apart from these, I had also conducted classes for M.Sc Microbiology and Biochemistry students, laboratory technician (DMLT) students and Ophthalmology technician trainees. My responsibilities also include work as consultant in diagnostic microbiology that includes bacteriology, mycology, parasitology, serology and molecular biology. Apart from these, I also undertake research studies on areas related to bacteriology and antimicrobial resistance. I also had the opportunity to impart training to medical postgraduate students as part of the workshop in research methodologies.

Continuing education

I regularly update myself with recent information and knowledge by participating in several Continuing Medical Education programs, Workshops and Conferences. Some of the notable training programmes that I have attended are:

1. Molecular techniques including PCR, RT-PCR, RNA/DNA extraction, quantitation of DNA/RNA, gel electrophoresis, RE digestion, SDS-PAGE, Western Blotting
2. Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
3. Clinical and epidemiological research methodology
4. Dissertation and teaching methodology

Other activities

Presented microbiology laboratory management software at 4th annual conference of Association of Medical Microbiologist -Karnataka Chapter held in St. John's Medical College, Bangalore in January 2000. I delivered a talk as a guest speaker at BIET college on bacteriological assessment of potable water in 2001

Skills acquired

• Primer design, PCR, BLAST, Phylogenetic tree
• Clinical diagnostic microbiology
• Isolation and identification of bacteria
• Antibiotic susceptibility testing/MIC determination
• Teaching/public speaking
• HTML, Javascript and PHP programming, Microsoft office

Training programmes

• Molecular techniques including PCR, RT-PCR, RNA/DNA extraction, quantitation of DNA/RNA, gel electrophoresis, RE digestion, SDS-PAGE, Western Blotting
• Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
• Clinical and epidemiological research methodology
• Dissertation and teaching methodology

Research publications:

Click here for my public research profile

• 1. A case of intestinal myiasis, Trop Doct. 1996 Jul;26(3):142   
• 2. Prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in pregnant women with bad obstetrical history. J Obstet Gynecol Ind. Vol.50, No. 6: December 2000:45-47
• 3. Study of bacterial, fungal and parasitic contamination of currency notes in circulation. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2005; 48(2):278-279   
• 4. Bacteriological quality of potable water in Davangere City. J Commun Dis. 2006 Dec;38(4):381-4   
• 5. Detection of extended spectrum beta-lactamase from clinical isolates in Davangere. Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology 2008; 51(4): 497-499    
• 6. Inducible Clindamycin Resistance, Glycopeptide Resistance and Mupirocin Resistance in Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Isolated from Clinical Samples. Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology 2012; 6(1): 407-10    
• 7. ESBL Production: Resistance Pattern in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, A Study by DDST method. International Journal of Applied Biology and Pharmaceutical Technology. 2011;2(4):415-22.    
• 8. ESBL Production: Resistance Pattern in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, A Study by NCCLS method. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences. 2012;3(1):559-565.    
• 9. Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases Producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae: A Multi-Centric Study Across Karnataka. J Lab Physicians. 2014 Jan;6(1):7-13    
• 10. Detection of extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. Indian J Med Microbiol. 2016;34:251-2 (Correspondence):  
• 11. Arcanobacterium Hemolyticum: An Usual Fatal Case. Journal of Bacteriology & Mycology: Open Access. 4(3): 00096. DOI: 10.15406/jbmoa.2017.04.00096  
• 12. External ophthalmomyiasis by Oestrus ovis: A case report from Davangere. Journal of Laboratory Physicians.2018(1):116-7    

A couple more are in the pipeline.