Name of Head of Department:
Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma
Department introduction/description :
Over the past five decades, healthcare delivery at the central hospital has evolved from essential services to multispecialty care in several specific domains. The medical laboratory too, has come a long way. From limited operations on limited hours for minimal tests (that too, done manually with reagents with very little on board stability), considering that we now operate full hours at the ER laboratory and have a wide panel of tests, internally calibrated and standardized with automation-based techniques, it would be safe to assert that supportive laboratory services are currently in par with the level of healthcare services in our center.
Clinical Biochemistry is taught at our center to all undergraduate programs, from MBBS, to the most recently started course in perfusion technology. At the Masters’ level, we have our own courses in Clinical Biochemistry (MSC, and MD) and also have limited hours of teaching to three more post graduate programs at the institute of medicine.
Encompassing the sample collection center, the emergency laboratory and the clinical biochemistry laboratory at the hospital, the department of biochemistry caters to a large patient base and has a significant number of employees at the hospital, too.
In partnership with several academic and clinical departments, we have been conducting collaborative researches over the years. With the research wing at the basic sciences building having been developed into an academic research laboratory with its own resources (wet lab), the access to research opportunities have greatly increased for faculty and students alike.
A research liaison has also been established with the Nepal Health Research Council, the University Grants’ Commission and the Central University in the past years. The idea is to incorporate student researches and provide mentorship for application towards research grants for our students in the coming years.
The technical expertise and academic prowess involved in the performance and supervision of every laboratory procedure involved in the hospital laboratory operations can obviously not be overemphasized at this point and the department and the staff that it has at its disposal constantly strive to achieve perfection and excellence, with significant contributions from Residents and Laboratory Science Students.
As of date, the laboratory is sophisticated enough, in that, even with the limited physical space available, we perform diverse tests ranging from routine analytes to complicated hormone assays and tumor markers on a daily basis now. Quality control and device calibration too, are more efficient now, thanks to recently introduced standard laboratory automation techniques. We have newly installed a new Abbott Architect ci4100 integrated autoanalyzer, Premier Hb9210 (HPLC) for HbA1c, and JOKOH EX-D for electrolyte estimation which are the new automated analyzers that utilize cutting-edge technology.
The Department of Clinical Biochemistry and its Hospital Laboratory now serves well over five hundred serum samples every day. With quite a few additions to the Endocrinology Unit of the Biochemistry lab over the last few years, that includes the latest additions for serum analysis for markers of fertility (Dehydroepiandrosterone- Sulphate DHEAS), cardiac biomarkers, diabetic panel markers among others, the number of samples processed by the endocrinology unit alone has doubled over the past year.
At Biochemistry, we believe in responsibility, integrity, and honest hard work, and as long as we do our part well, we are certain that we reserve the right to expect everyone else does theirs just as well. The following list includes the faculty members and laboratory personnel who work as a team to provide quality service.
Department vision, mission and goals :
The department of Biochemistry has three main areas of concern – academics, research and healthcare services. We hope to develop our laboratory medicine program further and produce the best technical laboratory personnel in the country. We continue to contribute to medical education, fueling the foundation years of medical school and we have a vision where laboratory medicine is incorporated into the medical curriculum as a separate credit in the future.
Department faculty members:
| S.N. | Full Name | Designation | Full Academic Qualifications | Joined year | Remarks |
| 1 | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma | Associate Professor | MD, Mphil | 2006 | HOD |
| 2 | Dr. Binod Kumar Yadav | Associate Professor | BMLT, MSC, PHD, Post Doc Fellow | 2005 | Deputation |
| 3 | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar | Assistant Professor | MBBS, MD | 2007 | |
| 4 | Dr. Aseem Bhattarai | Assistant Professor | MBBS, MD | 2013 | |
| 5 | Mr. Mithileshwor Raut | Assistant Professor | BMLT, MSC | 2013 | |
| 6 | Mr. Raju Kumar Dubey | Assistant Professor | BSC MLT, MSC | 2021 | |
| 7 | Dr. Apeksha Niraula | Assistant Professor | BDS, MD | 2021 |
Department staff members:
| S.N. | Name | Designation | Academic Qualifications Full (Bachelor onwards) | Joined year |
| 1 | Bijay Dangol | Senior Lab Boy | Not Applicable | 1998 |
Academic programs and students educated/trained each year / total
| Level | S.N. | Program name | Details |
| Bachelor | 1 | MBBS | Yes (First and Second Year) |
| 2 | BDS | Yes (First and Second Year) | |
| 3 | BASLP | Yes (First Year) | |
| 4 | BOptom | Yes (First Year) | |
| 5 | BPerfusion | Yes (First Year) | |
| 6 | BPharmacy | Yes (First Year) | |
| 7 | BScMIT | Yes (Second Year) | |
| 8 | BScMLT | Yes (All Four Years) | |
| Masters | 9 | MD Medical Biochemistry | Yes (Three Years) |
| 10 | MD Pediatrics | Yes (First Year) | |
| 11 | MS Orthopedics | Yes (First Year) | |
| 12 | MSc Clinical Biochemistry | Yes (Three Years) |
List of hospital clinical services provided and Number of patients served/treated
Emergency Medical Laboratory (Caters to all emergency patient samples and operates 24 hours)
Research activities of the faculties/department
Ongoing:
| SN | Title of Project | Investigator | Status | Faculty Supervisors |
| 1. | Iron Deficiency and Anti-Thyroid Peroxidase Antibodies in Reproductive-age Women | Anuradha Kadel | IRC approved | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar, Dr. Apeksha Niraula |
| 2. | Lipoprotein (a) level and ApoB/Apo A1 ratio in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Compared to Lipid Profile | Anuradha Kadel | IRC approved | Dr. Aseem Bhattarai, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
| 3. | Central Diabetes Insipidus Secondary to Inactive Hydrocephalus: A Case Report of 13-year-old from Tertiary Care Hospita | Anuradha Kadel | Under review in Journal | Raju Kumar Dubey, Mithileshwar Raut |
| 4. | Effects of dynamic meditation on serum cortisol and biochemical parameters in pre and post meditation participants | Nikita Kharal | Analysis Completed | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Dr. Apeksha Niraula |
| 5. | Effect of dynamic meditation on serum hormones level in participants attending meditation camp | Nikita Kharal | Manuscript writing | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar |
| 6. | Screening of serum hormonal levels at different stages of breast cancer patients | Nikita Kharal | IRC approved | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar, Raju Kumar Dubey |
| 7. | An interesting case of unintentional vitamin D toxicity in an infant due to erroneous vitamin D supplements concentration | Nikita Kharal | Accepted in Journal | Dr. Arun Kumar Sharma, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Dr. Apeksha Niraula |
| 8. | Apolipoprotein A1 level in patients with Parkinson’s Disease attending in tertiary care center of Nepal | Dr. Srijana Sapkota | Proposal writing ready for submission | Dr. Rajiv Ojha, Dr. Aseem Bhattarai |
| 9. | Correlation between serum asymmetric dimethylarginine and estimated glomerular filtration rate among patients with chronic kidney disease | Prakash Pokhrel | Submitted to IRC | Dr. Mahesh Raj Sigdel, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
Completed:
| SN | Title of Project | Investigator | Status | Faculty Supervisor |
| 1. | Thyroid Dysfunction and Autoimmune thyroid disease in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) | Pratibha Kandel | Submission | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar, Dr. Apeksha Niraula |
| 2. | Clinical and Laboratory Profile in Seropositive Dengue Cases in Tertiary Care Hospital in Nepal | Pratibha Kandel | Manuscript writing | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Dr. Apeksha Niraula |
| 3. | Homocysteine levels in women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome | Pratibha Kandel | Manuscript Submitted | Raju Kumar Dubey, Mithileshwar Raut |
| 4. | Association of Apolipoproteins A1 & B100 in Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Patients Attending Endocrinology Clinic at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital | Dr. Smrity Rajkarnikar | Manuscript Writing | Dr. Aseem Bhattarai, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
| 5. | Free Prostate Specific Antigen (fPSA) levels as a marker of androgen excess in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) | Dr. Smrity Rajkarnikar | Paper Submitted | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Raju Kumar Dubey |
| 6. | hs-CRP & Lipid Profile As An Atherosclerotic Risk Factor In Subclinical Hypothyroidism | Dr. Smrity Rajkarnikar | Manuscript | Mithileshwar Raut, Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar |
| 7. | hsCRP and lipoprotein (a) as a cardiovascular risk marker in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome | Sujata Baidya | Paper Submitted | Dr. Apeksha Niraula, Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar |
| 8. | Autoimmune thyroid status in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome | Sujata Baidya | Paper Submitted | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
| 9. | Porphyria: A Case Report | Sujata Baidya | Published | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
| 10. | Iron Profile Spectrum in patients visiting Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital | Sujata Baidya | Report Ready | Dr. Eans Tara Tuladhar |
| 11. | Association of Vitamin D Receptor-associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphism with Vitamin D and Calcium Levels in Individual Visiting Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital | Sujata Baidya | Paper Published | Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma, Dr. Aseem Bhattarai |
| 12. | Assessment of Performance of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory Using Six-sigma Metrics at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital | Sujata Baidya | Manuscript Ready | Dr. Binod Kumar Yadav, Dr. Vijay Kumar Sharma |
On-going research works in Clinical Biochemistry (Group Projects)
| SN | Title of Project | Status |
| 1. | Screening of Down’s Syndrome in High Risk Pregnancy in Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital | 67 Samples |
| 2. | Genotype-Phenotype Correlations in Parkinson’s Disease and Related Movement Disorders (In collaboration with Neurology Department TUTH) | Patient Samples- 38 Relatives Samples- 19 DNA extract sent for analysis- 38 |
| 3. | Effect of dynamic meditation on serum hormones level in participants attending meditation camp | Manuscript preparation |
| 4. | Comparison of performance of Tacrolimus in Abbott ARCHITECT ci4100 and SNIBE Maglumi 800 | Proposal writing |
Number of publications by faculties/department
| Original articles | Review articles | Case reports | Newspaper | Online news | Total |
| 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
Achievements/Grants/Awards received by faculties/department
Grants: Faculty Research Grant (NHRC), UGC Research Grant (Undergraduates, multiple)
