Microbiology & Immunology

The principal missions of the discipline of Microbiology and Immunology are:

• To promote the acquisition of a thorough understanding of the etiological agents of infectious diseases and host defense mechanisms.
• To achieve excellence in PhD and MD / PhD degrees in Microbiology and Immunology.
• To develop and maintain exceptional scholarly research programs and to promote the competency of lifelong and independent learning.
• To establish a program in Viral Oncogenesis and Cancer Biology at RFUMS and promote greater understanding of the molecular basis for virus-induced and other cancers.
• To establish a program in Inflammation and its role in Pathogenesis, Cancer, and Vaccine Development.
• To provide outstanding administrative and infrastructure supports that are conducive to the research, teaching and service duties of the division's faculty and students.

In addition to the existing laboratories, a research floor of about 16,000 square feet with state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities is currently occupied.

The core facilities in the research wing include state-of-the-art new ultracentrifuges, high-speed centrifuges, gamma counter, scintillation counter, bacterial shaker incubators, real-time and regular PCR machines, ELISA reader, spectrophotometers, fluorescence microscopes with digital imaging, automatic film developers, gel documentation recorder, autoclaves, dishwashers, etc. In addition, other core resources at RFUMS include confocal, live-cell and electron microscopy facilities, and a structural biology and proteomics center.

The Microbiology and Immunology discipline has also initiated and is committed to the continued development of an excellent Clinical Immunology Laboratory which provides patient diagnosis and fosters basic and clinical research programs in the fields of oncology, hematology, reproductive immunology, infectious diseases, bone marrow and organ transplantation programs, etc. within the University.