Dr. Nitin Virmani was born on 26th March 1968 and did his schooling from
a Central School in New Delhi. In 1991, he completed his Bachelor's degree
in Veterinary Sciences and Animal Husbandry from Haryana Agricultural University,
Hisar, Haryana. He acquired his Master's degree in Veterinary Pathology
from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly, U.P., working
on 'Pathology of female genital tract of sheep and goats along with experimental
studies on Mycoplasmal infection of genital tract'. After completion of
Master's degree, he had a brief stint with Department of Health, Municipal
Corporation of Delhi, Delhi, working as Veterinary Officer with responsibilities
of ante mortem and post mortem examination of animals.
In October 1996, he joined as Scientist at National Research Centre on
Equines, Hisar. He has worked on various research projects, which includes
work on pathological, ultrastructural and biochemical studies on Canker
disease in equines and development of immunohistochemical tools for detection
of Equine Herpes Virus-1 infection. He has developed antinuclear antibodies
detection test for diagnosis of immunopathological disorders in in vitro
system.
He completed his Doctorate degree in Veterinary Pathology from CCS Haryana
Agricultural University, Hisar , working on 'Pathobiology of indigenous
strains of EHV-1 in pregnant BALB/c mice' in May, 2003. Salient features
of the research included comparison of different indigenous strains of EHV-1
with respect to their affinity for various organs/ systems i.e. respiratory,
nervous and reproductive system upon intranasal infection in 13-14 days
pregnant BALB/c mice. While Rajasthan strain showed severe involovement
of all the three systems the Hisar strain could cause severe manifestations
of respiratory system and very mild lesions were observed in placenta. No
neurological disorders could be observed in suckling mice inoculated intracerebrally
by Hisar strain where as Rajasthan strain produced severe neurological lesions.
Detailed studies were carried out on Rajasthan strain for pathogenesis using
various diagnostic tools such as histopathology, immunohistochemistry, virus
reisolation patterns and PCR.
Involvement in current
research projects of NRCE
1. Epidemiological studies on emerging and existing diseases of equines
2.Development of improved vaccine(s) against equine diseases
Sub Project
a. Development of vaccine(s) against Equine Herpes Virus-1 infection
3.Development of improved diagnostics against important viral and bacterial
diseases of equines Sub Projects
a. Studies on the improvement of the Diagnostics for differentiation between
EHV-1 & 4 infections employing molecular techniques.
b. Development of diagnostics for Rhodocococcus equi infection
in foals
