Department of Microbiology, IGMC, Shimla

Brief Report of North West Chapter MICROCON 2024

The Annual Conference of North West Chapter MICROCON 2024 was held at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla by the Organizing Committee of the Department of Microbiology, IGMC, Shimla. The theme for the conference was “Infections in Immunocompromised – Threats, Accomplishments and Future Plans”. On 28^th September 2024, a pre-conference workshop on “Diagnostic Medical Mycology” was conducted in collaboration with the ICMR-Advanced Mycology Diagnostic and Research Centre, Mycology Section, Department of Microbiology, AIIMS, New Delhi. This was followed by the final round of postgraduate Quiz. On 29^th September 2024, the inaugural ceremony was held followed by deliberations by guest speakers and panel discussion by experts on “One Health Concept – National One Health Mission”.

Day 1: September 28, 2024

Pre-Conference Workshop: The workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Sita Thakur, Principal, IGMC as the Chief Guest and Dr. Rahul Rao, Senior Medical Superintendent, IGMC, as the Guest of Honour. The faculty and resource persons from Mycology Section, Department of Microbiology, AIIMS, New Delhi were Dr. Immaculata Xess, Professor and In-charge, Dr. Gagandeep Singh, Additional Professor, Dr. Mrignayni Pandey, Research Scientist and Mr. Bhaskar Rana, Technical Officer. At the outset, Dr. Santwana Verma, Professor and Head of Department of Microbiology, IGMC, Shimla welcomed the dignitaries and participants. She addressed the gathering and gave brief overview of the deliberations and practical sessions that would be undertaken by the esteemed faculty and resource persons. The welcome address was followed by the felicitation function and addresses by the dignitaries and faculty from AIIMS Delhi. The first session of training included deliberations on approaches in laboratory diagnosis of fungi, yeast identification, identification of moulds and media and stains used in diagnostic mycology. The second session comprised of demonstration and practical training on basic mycological techniques and conventional techniques for identification of fungi. The pre-conference work shop was followed by the final round of PG Quiz that was conducted by Dr. Veenu Gupta, President NW Chapter, IAMM, as the Quiz Master and Dr. Varsha Gupta, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, GMCH, Chandigarh as the Quiz Moderator. There were four teams comprising of two PG students each. The winners will participate in the Annual National Conference of IAMM.

Day 2: September 29, 2024

The academic event started with the first session of oral presentation by the participants. The first session of the conference started with guest lecture by Dr. Malay Sarkar, Professor and Head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, IGMC, Shimla and Nodal Officer for NTEP for the state of Himachal Pradesh. His talk was on “Tuberculosis - Current Scenario and Way Forward”. This was followed by the inaugural ceremony.

Dignitaries: Sh. Rajeev Kumar ( HPAS), Additional Pr. PS-cum- Additional Secretary to hon’ble Chief Minister, H.P, CEO-cum-Secretary, H.P Building and other Construction Workers Welfare Board, Shimla and Project Director (AIDS), H.P, State AIDS Control Society, Shimla, General Manager, H.P, Medical Services Corporation Limited, Shimla and Director IPR, Dr. Rakesh Sharma, Director Medical Education & Research, Dr. Bhawna Rao, Dy. Director Lab. Services ( IEC & Mainstreaming), NACO, Dr. Sonal Saxena, Secretary, IAMM and Dr. Veenu Gupta, President, North West Chapter, IAMM graced the inaugural ceremony. The inaugural ceremony began with lighting of the auspicious lamp by the dignitaries followed by saraswati vandana. Thereafter, Dr. Santwana Verma, Organizing Chairperson and Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, IGMC, Shimla welcomed the dignitaries and guests. In her welcome address she highlighted the role of microbiological diagnosis in infections in immunocompromised. This was followed by a felicitation ceremony for the guests and dignitaries. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Bhawna Rao on current scenario of HIV in India and role of NACO in PLHIV. The vote of thanks was proposed by Dr. Rajnish Sood, Organizing Secretary and Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, IGMC, Shimla and the inaugural ceremony concluded with the National Anthem. High tea was served following the inaugural ceremony.

In the second session of the conference, deliberations made were- “Superbugs in Intensive Care Units” by Dr. Sonal Saxena, Director Professor and Head, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, “Human Gut Microbiome – Hopes and Promises” by Dr. Neelam Taneja, Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, “Opportunistic fungal infections – Learning from COVID-19 pandemic” by Dr. M.R. Shiva Prakash, Professor and In-charge Mycology Section, Department of Microbiology, PGIMER, Chandigarh and “Challenges in diagnosing Extrapulmonary Tuberculosis” by Dr. Kusum Sharma, Professor, Department of Microbiology, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

The General Body Meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Dr. Veenu Gupta, President, North West Chapter, IAMM and attended by all the executive members and members. Lunch was organized for the delegates and during the break poster walk was also conducted by the judges. The second session of oral presentations was held in parallel for the remaining participants.

The post lunch third session began with panel discussion on “One Health Concept – National One Health Mission”. The moderator for the panel discussion was Dr. Vinod Kumar Mehta, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, IGMC and experts on the panel were Dr. Arti Kapil, Professor & Head, Department of Microbiology, North DMC Medical College & Hindu Rao Hospital New Delhi, Dr. Anmol Gupta, Professor & Head, Department of Community Medicine, IGMC, Shimla, Dr. Varsha Gupta, Professor & Head, Department of Microbiology, GMCH, Chandigarh, Dr. Sumeeta Khurana, Professor & Head, Department of Medical Parasitology, PGIMER, Chandigarh and Dr. Poonam Gupta, Laboratory Director Lead Consultant Microbiology Infection Prevention, AM Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Navi Mumbai. Further in this session, presentations were done by Dr. Nidhi Singla, Professor, Department of Microbiology, GMCH, Chandigarh on “Acute undifferentiated febrile illness-Preparedness for Pandemic” and by Dr. Amisha Sharma, Professor & Head, Department of Microbiology, MMMCH, Kumarhatti, Solan on “Automation – the future of Microbiology”.

The event concluded with the valedictory function and the concluding remarks were delivered by the organizing chairperson.