Department of Biochemistry, King George's Medical University

The Department of Biochemistry was created on 3rd November 1986. Initially teachers from various other departments (like Pharmacology, Pathology, Surgery and Physiology) were deputed to run the department, and it was only in December 1990, that a reg ment, and it was only in December 1990, that a regular Professor and Head joined. The Department of Biochemistry is recognized for its academic activities, teaching, clinical laboratory work and research. Presently more than three dozen research projects sponsored by various funding agencies including Department of Science & Technology (Govt. of India), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, New Delhi, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, University Grants Commission, Council of Science & Technology, U.P., etc. are continuing. The department is also engaged in collaborative research with other departments of the university. More than 50 students pursuing MD/MS/MDS/PhD courses are doing their research (thesis) work in this department with the facilities available and proper guidance by the faculties. More than 500 research papers have been published during the last fifteen years in peer reviewed national and international journals of repute. Moreover, the department organized highly successful four international conferences and two national workshops and many National Symposia during last couple of years, including National Symposium on "Changing trends in Medical Biochemistry in the New Millennium" on 4th February 2017. The Department of Biochemistry also organized the 44th National Conference of Association of Clinical Biochemists of India, 2017 (ACBICON 2017) from 3rd to 6th December 2017. Central Zone ACBICON 2018 (21st to 22nd July 2018) and Central Zone IABSCON from 2nd to 3rd Feb. 2019 were successfully organized by the department. In 2023, a CME was held under the aegis of ACCLMP-UP Chapter on 27th August 2023. The department holds the distinction that the first Ph.D. student of the University, Dr. Ashish Gupta (who went to work at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA and is presently working at CBMR, SGPGI, Lucknow) was registered under Prof. A. A. Mahdi, when in 2004 King George's Medical University introduced Ph.D. programme under the stewardship of the then Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mahendra Bhandari. All the faculty members of the department are actively involved in teaching, research and are assisting the University in administrative matters. After Prof. Mahdi took over as Head of the Department, all the faculty positions were filled. Prof. Mahdi served as Vice Chancellor of Era University, Lucknow from September 2017 to September 2019 and re-joined KGMU in September 2019. Dr.Dilutpal Sharma, Associate Professor, headed the department during his leave. In February 2023, Prof. Mahdi joined as Vice-Chancellor, Era University Lucknow. Presently, Dr. Kalpana Singh Professor is Head of the Department, Dr. Shivani Pandey, Dr. Ranjana Singh are working as Professor. Dr.Dilutpal Sharma, Dr. M. Kaleem Ahmad and Dr. G.K. Sonkar are working as Additional Professors while Dr. Shweta Kumari is working as an Associate Professor. Moreover, now the department has all the facilities to carry out the routine and specialized clinical biochemistry investigations. M.D. Biochemistry course have also been started from the year 2022 with intake of 02 seats per year. Two Gold Medals, one instituted by Prof. Abbas Ali Mahdi in memory of his uncle late Shri Ghulam Hussain, I.A.S. (former Secretary, Medical Health, Government of U.P. and ex-Vice Chancellor) and the other instituted by the students of Prof. S. S. Parmar in his name are awarded every year to the students who secure highest percentage of marks in Biochemistry at the First Professional M.B.B.S examination. For the first time in the country, Biochemistry was introduced as a separate subject at the 1st professional B.D.S level and since 1994, separate examination in this specialty is being conducted. Presently most of the research works in the department are being carried out in the field of Free Radical Biology, Metal Toxicity, Molecular and Cancer Biology, Natural Products, Nanoparticles and Clinical Biochemistry.