Overview
The Department of Immunology focuses on the biological, immunological and molecular biological aspects of mycobacterial infections. The department is involved in studies on basic pathogenic mechanisms that may lead to better diagnostic tools and development of vaccines and other immune interventions for prevention and control of infection and disease. The department has adopted a multidisciplinary approach that includes Immunology, molecular biology and epidemiology to study TB. Apart from these, the department is also focused on understanding the Zoonotic and reverse zoonotic transmission of tuberculosis between human and cattle.
Head of the Department:
Dr. Uma Devi K.R, M.Sc., Ph.D., Scientist 'F'
Email id :
umadevi[dot]kr[at]icmr[dot]gov[dot]in
| Sr. No. | Name of the Staff | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. Ramalingam B | Scientist F |
| 2 | Dr. Uma Devi K.R | Scientist F |
| 3 | Dr. Kannan P | Scientist E |
| 4 | Dr. Pavan Kumar N | Scientist D |
| 5 | Dr. Anbarasu D | Technical Officer-C |
| 6 | Dr. Harishankar M | Technical Officer-C |
| 7 | Mrs. Suganthi C | Technical Officer-C |
| 8 | Ms. Chitra J | Technical Officer-B |
| 9 | Dr. Arun K | Technical Assistant |
| 10 | Mr. Venkatesan P | Technical Assistant |
| 11 | Mr. Madhavan D | Senior Technician (1) |
| 12 | Ms. Gokula Lakshmi S | Lab Attendant -1 |
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Research focuses:
Identification of Biomarkers for TB
TB vaccine development
Whole genome sequencing of TB
Proteomics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Molecular diagnostics and Immunodiagnostics of TB
Drug resistance and drug tolerance in mycobacteria
Molecular Immunology/ Transcriptomic and Host Genetics
Cellular and Humoral Immunology of Tuberculosis
Molecular Epidemiology of tuberculosis
Zoonosis and reverse zoonosis of Tuberculosis
Ongoing projects:
Dr. K. R. Uma Devi:
CRISPR mediated platform for diagnosis and rapid detection of drug resistance pattern in “Mycobacterium tuberculosis”.
Decoding Bedaquiline Resistance: Mutational profiling in Tuberculosis patients (BDQ Study)
Establishing TB vaccine Immunology Laboratory (TBVIL) with international standards and accreditation.
Dr. B. Ramalingam:
An integrative biomarker discovery and validation approach to aid the development of point-of-care tests for Tuberculosis.
(a) Assessment of monocyte miRNA signatures as a biomarker in TB infected and disease individuals. (b) Molecular profiling of inflammatory markers among individuals with latent TB infection.Dr. P. Kannan:
Estimation of risk associated with zoonotic tuberculosis in South India (funded by NIH,USA)
Identification of Bovine Tuberculosis Specific Proteins by the Immuno Proteomic Approach ( ICMR funded project)
Dr. N. Pavan Kumar:
Metabolites, Inflammation, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Tuberculosis Patients.
Characterisation of Immune Responses in Tuberculosis Associated Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
The Regional Prospective Observational Research for Tuberculosis (RePORT) India Phase II Common Protocol.
Patient outcomes associated with Tuberculosis Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in India: A prospective single arm study.
Development and validation of a Real-Time PCR test for tuberculosis diagnosis and treatment follow up.
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ABSL III Facility
BSL III facility
Illumina - Next Generation Sequencing
Multiplex Protein Array
Advanced Flow Cytometry
Tecan - Hydrospeed 96 & 384 Head Washer
QIAxcel Connect - Capillary Electerophoresis
Real Time – PCR
Multimode Reader – TECAN SPARK
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A standardised method for interpreting the association between mutations and phenotypic drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis P Miotto, B Tessema, E Tagliani, L Chindelevitch, AM Starks, C Emerson, … European Respiratory Journal 50 (6), 2017
Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in India: Findings from the national serosurvey, May-June 2020 MV Murhekar, T Bhatnagar, S Selvaraju, K Rade, V Saravanakumar, … Indian Journal of Medical Research 152 (1-2), 2020
Activated renal macrophages are markers of disease onset and disease remission in lupus nephritis L Schiffer, R Bethunaickan, M Ramanujam, W Huang, M Schiffer, H Tao, … The Journal of Immunology 180 (3), 2008
Cross-species transcriptional network analysis defines shared inflammatory responses in murine and human lupus nephritis CC Berthier, R Bethunaickan, T Gonzalez-Rivera, V Nair, M Ramanujam, … The Journal of Immunology 189 (2), 2012
Malnutrition: modulator of immune responses in tuberculosis P Chandrasekaran, N Saravanan, R Bethunaickan, S Tripathy Frontiers in Immunology 8, 2017
Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole genome sequences from Southern India suggest novel resistance mechanisms and the need for region-specific diagnostics AL Manson, T Abeel, JE Galagan, JC Sundaramurthi, A Salazar, … Clinical Infectious Diseases 64 (11), 2017
Bovine tuberculosis in India: The need for One Health approach and the way forward H Ramanujam, K Palaniyandi One Health 16, 2023 Pavan Kumar Nathella Host-directed therapy of tuberculosis based on interleukin-1 and type I interferon crosstalk KD Mayer-Barber, BB Andrade, SD Oland, EP Amaral, DL Barber, … Nature 511 (7507), 2014
S100A8/A9 proteins mediate neutrophilic inflammation and lung pathology during tuberculosis R Gopal, L Monin, D Torres, S Slight, S Mehra, KC McKenna, … American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 188 (9), 2013 Influence of diabetes mellitus on immunity to human tuberculosis P Kumar Nathella, S Babu Immunology 152 (1), 2017
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The Immunology Department is currently developing a dedicated TB Vaccine Immunology Laboratory facility to strengthen its capacity for conducting advanced immunological assays in support of TB vaccine studies. The upgraded infrastructure is being designed to enable high-quality immunoprofiling, translational research, and regulatory compliant workflows, thereby establishing a robust and scalable platform for comprehensive vaccine evaluation.
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