Clinical Virology
The research activities of the department are funded by a number of extramural and intramural grants. Outlined below are the projects in various specialty areas.
In the field of retro virology and opportunistic viruses:
- A study of mutations in the pol gene of human immunodeficiency virus-type1 (HIV-1) of treatment naive and treatment experienced individuals are being studied from which three dimensional computational models will be constructed to analyse drug affinity of various drugs to these virus mutants (Funding : ICMR).
- Emergence of polymorphisms indicating drug resistance in the reverse transcriptase gene of HIV-1 in pregnant women before and after prophylaxis to prevent mother to child HIV-1 transmission is also being studied (Funding : ICMR).
- A comparison of the quantification of HIV-1 from dried blood spots versus plasma (Funding : intramural)
- Intestinal dysfunction at the time of initiation of HAART as a potential risk factor for drug malabsorption and treatment failure (Funding: Fogarty International Centre of NIH)*
- Antiretroviral therapy adherence in the public health model of HIV care (Funding: Tufts University)*
- A study on the virological and immunological aspects associated with opportunistic viral infections in HIV-1 infected individuals in India (south)( Funding: intramural)
- A study to determine the prevalence of Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection by detecting mRNA for EB Nuclear antigen 1 in histologically proven cases of gastric adenocarcinoma (Funding : intramural) *
In the field of respiratory viral infections:
- A multi-site influenza surveillance study involving the detection of influenza A and B viruses among patients presenting with influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection(Funding : CDC and ICMR).
- A multi-centric study looking at infuenza burden of disease in the general population –different measures of an estimate of morbidity and mortality due to influenza will be made in the community (Funding : CDC)
- A study to determine the aetiology of lower respiratory infections in children under 5 years of age which includes the whole range of respiratory viruses (Funding : ICMR)
In the field of hepatovirology:
- An investigation into certain genetic and immunological (HLA, MBL2,TLR and IFN-γ) factors that influence the outcome of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in south Indian Individuals (Funding : DBT)
- Characterization of hepatitis B virus drug resistance in Indian subcontinent patients (Funding: ICMR)
- Evaluation of a hand-held microPCR for quantification of HBV and HCV (Funding : BigTec Pvt. Ltd)
In the field of papillomaviruses (HPV):
- HPV infection in HIV sero-positive men (Funding : NIH & ICMR)
- A life style approach to Head and Neck cancers – role of HPV (Funding : Recherche Scientifique Institute, Canada)*
- Assessment of the prevalence of HPV in oral cavity of patients with oral cancers and asymptomatic individuals (Funding : intramural)*
*Co-investigator status