New Delhi. : Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research & Studies (MCARS), Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has started a two-year degree course of Masters in Virology. The course will provide students with theoretical knowledge in various domains of viruses with specific focus on pathogenic viruses, their diagnostic methods, antiviral drug designing, molecular pathways of viruses and recently developed therapies such as immunotherapies and vaccines. During the two-year course duration, students will undergo rigorous practical and hand-on-training. Importantly, students will learn how to detect the viruses using current state-of-the art technologies like RT-qPCR, genome sequencing and CRISPR-Cas Diagnostic methods besides other assays such as immunophenotyping, flow cytometry, mass spectrometry and fluorescent microscopy. The course curriculum has been designed by the eminent academicians in the field who have expertise in various domains of Virology, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Infectious disease biology, computational and structural biology.
Course coordinators Dr. Jawed Iqbal, Dr. Mohan C Joshi and Dr. Tanveer Ahmad said that India has a high-demand of trained professionals especially in the field of virology. After the onset of COVID-19, MCARS was at the forefront in developing robust diagnostic methods and treatments. The faculty members of MCARS developed world’s first Saliva based SARS-CoV-2 detection using CRISPR-Cas technology. That innovation became the foundation for this Masters course as we have witnessed over last two years that there is a huge supply chain constrain, particularly in terms of the trained professionals who could develop and perform these diagnostic assays, said the course coordinators. Dr. Jawed Iqbal (Virologist) further said that MCARS has a strong collaboration with the major research institutes, hospital and clinical laboratories in the country which will help students to gain more practical insights about the viral disease pathogenesis in particular. Dr. Madhumalar, Dr. Somlata and Dr. Amit also welcomed MSc Virology program at MCARS.
Professor Mohammad Zulfequar, Director MCARS said that courses like MSc in Virology are socially and economically beneficial for the country. We will be training the next-generation of researcher scholars to further strengthen the healthcare system of our country that will also synergistically improve the scientific research in life-threatening infectious diseases. The students will be trained by the best faculty members who have vast expertise in various domains of virology and biotechnology. Dr. S.N. Kazim, who himself is a trained virologist said that as the world is witnessing a sharp increase in viral infectious disease post-COVID, this course has importance more than ever and we at MCARS will ensure that the students get best quality education and practical knowledge in virology from molecular diagnosis to disease treatment. Dr Kazim also said that Jamia Millia Islamia has initiated more clinical collaborations in recent years to ensure that the students will have both basic as well as clinical knowledge of the subject, which is more important in courses like Virology.
The course has been approved by the regulatory bodies and application forms are available at JMI website: www.jmi.ac.in. Last date for the online applications is 10th October 2022.
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