Dr Meenachi Chidambaram

Brief Profile

Dr Meenachi Chidambaram is a proud alumnus of the prestigious JIPMER in Puducherry, where she finished her MBBS and postgraduate degree in Microbiology. In a career spanning nine years, she has held various key positions including Associate Consultant Microbiologist in well-known hospitals.

She has several research publications and scientific paper presentations to her credit and has attended many medical conferences, workshops, and Continuing Medical Education (CME) sessions, all of which collectively underscores her academic pursuits and interests.

Dr Meenachi also has significant experience in teaching an audience of undergraduates in nursing, medical laboratory technology, and MBBS, and also technicians, whose nature of work includes Theory and Practical sessions, tissue culture, molecular studies, Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT), Phoenix Automated Microbiology System, Vitek, BACTEC, and best laboratory practices.

Educational Qualification

• MD (Microbiology) – Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry (2017)
• MBBS – JIPMER Pondicherry (2010)

MD Thesis and Research

• Evaluation of the Utility of Conventional PCR for Detection and Species Differentiation in Hookworm Infections in Humans (MD Dissertation Project, JIPMER)

Research Publications

• Chidambaram M, Chandra Parija S, ChToi P, Mandal J, Sankaramoorthy D, George S et al. “Evaluation of the Utility of Conventional Polymerase Chain Reaction for Detection and Species Differentiation in Human Hookworm Infections”. Tropical Parasitology. 2017; 7(2): 111-16

• Chandra Parija, S, Chidambaram M, Mandal J. “Epidemiology and Clinical Features of Soil-transmitted Helminths”. Tropical Parasitology. 2017; 7(2): 81-85

• Velayutham B, Thomas B, Nair D, Meenachi Chidambaram, Prashant S, Kittusami S et al. “The Usefulness and Feasibility of Mobile Interface in Tuberculosis Notification (MITUN) Voice-based System for Notification of Tuberculosis by Private Medical Practitioners” – A Pilot Project. PLOS ONE. 2015; 10(9): e0138274

• Krishnamurthy S, Singh R, Chandrasekaran V, Mathiyazhagan G, Meenachi Chidambaram, Deepak Barathi S et al. “Basidiobolomycosis Complicated by Hydronephrosis and a Perinephric Abscess Presenting as a Hypertensive Emergency in a 7-year-old boy”. Paediatrics and International Child Health. 2017; 1-4

• Dhanalakshmi S, Meenachi Chidambaram, Parija SC. “Indirect Haemagglutination Test in Comparison with ELISA for Detection of Antibodies against Invasive Amoebiasis”. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND DIAGNOSTIC RESEARCH. 2016;10(8):5-8.

Scientific Papers Presented

• “Evaluation of the Utility of Conventional PCR for Detection and Species Differentiation in Hookworm Infections in Humans” – TROPOCON 2016

• “An Atypical Presentation of Salmonella enterica with Carbapenam Resistant Klebsiella pneumonia Infection in a Pancreatic Pseudocyst Abscess” – A Case Report – Critical Care Conference – Velammal Medical College Madurai

Conferences Attended

• 8^th National Conference of the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (TROPACON 2014)

• 9^th National Conference of the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (TROPACON 2015)

• 39^th National Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists (MICROCON 2015)

• 10^th National Conference of the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (TROPACON 2016)

• 40^th National Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists (MICROCON 2016)

• Quality Management and Internal Audit in Medical Laboratories as per ISO 15189:2012 in January 2019 at Madurai Medical College

• 10^th Annual Conference on Clinical Infectious Diseases Society (CIDSCON) 2020

Workshops & CME Attended

• Resource person in 13^th National Workshop on “Diagnostic Methods in Clinical Microbiology” – JIPMER (2014)

• Resource person in 39^th National Conference of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists MICROCON – JIPMER (2015)

• RNTCP State Level Conference – Pondicherry (2015)

• Training on “Bio-Medical Waste Management Practices” at JIPMER

• CME on “Hospital-acquired Infections” at JIPMER.

• 9th Annual Mycology Workshop – SRMC, Chennai

• Short course in “Clinical Trials and Meta-Analysis” – CMC, Vellore

• “Clinical Research Methodology and Biostatistics” – NIRT, Chennai

• Online training program for professional certification on “Hospital Infection Control (Basic)” – 2021

e-CMEs Conducted

• Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) in the era of Multi-Drug Resistant organisms” – 30 June 2021
• “OXA-48: Do We Know Enough” – 23 December 2021

Molecular Experience

• Molecular Biology Laboratory set up in Apollo Hospitals, Madurai – Tested nearly 1,000 samples for COVID every day by Real-Time PCR