NIRT Madurai Unit

Key areas of research

Clinical trials in Tuberculosis including shortening TB treatment trials in Drug sensitive and drug resistant TB

Operational Research in Tuberculosis

Clinical Research in HIV/TB

Research in Improving TB treatment care including Smoking Cessation in TB, Pulmonary Rehabilitation in TB

Research projects in Paediatric TB

List of ongoing projects

Scaling up short course TB preventive regimen containing Isoniazid and Rifapentine given once-weekly for three months (3HP) among household contacts of sputum positive pulmonary TB patients in India: A demonstration project(3HP study)

Smoking Cessation among TB patients in Madurai district Corporation centres: aiding TB free Madurai(Smoking cessation study)

Population Based Health Survey: Population based Health Survey in MRHRUs is a centrally driven survey, to assess health status and annual trend of change in health status of communities residing in the field practice areas of MRHRUs across India, in MRHRU Madurai it is Valayankulum block(PBHS)

Effect of Pulmonary rehabilitation on the exercise tolerance in sputum positive pulmonary TB patients (PTLH).

Identifying gaps and challenges in Continuum of TB care among labourers working in quarries in Madurai district (Quarry study)

Feasibility of implementation of Out-patient (OP) Screen TB initiative for pulmonary TB case detection in Primary Health Care settings(OP-TB screening study)

Patient outcomes associated with Tuberculosis Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in India: A prospective single arm study(PTLD)

Impact of the m-Health counselling support on adherence and treatment outcome among newly diagnosed DSTB patients under programmatic setting in India: An implementation research study (Mixed Method - RCT).(m-Health TB study)

Comparative evaluation of intensified short course regimen and standard regimen for adults TB meningitis: An open label randomized controlled trial (INSHORT trial)

Comprehensive intervention strategy to improve retention in TB infection cascade of care in high-risk groups through a person-centered approach in the SEAR countries Comprehensive strategy for Retention in TB Infection Cascade of Care (CRITIC study)

Extended follow-up of the PreVenTB trial for effectiveness of VPM1002 vaccine compared to placebo in the prevention of TB disease at 5 to 6 years post-vaccination among household contacts of persons with pulmonary tuberculosis (PwPTB) in India

A multicentric parallel arm RCT to improve treatment outcomes among persons with drug sensitive pulmonary TB treated with 4 or 6 months of High Dose Rifampicin containing regimens with or without Levofloxacin(PRaCTISe-HR)

Unique lab equipment, digital platforms, or special infrastructure available. (Max. 5 bullet points)

Room space in Ward 62 upstairs of GRH, Madurai, catering provisions for the Staff seating, well-furnished to carry out scientific and administrative works

Computers, with Network connections, Video Conference facility to connect with Headquarters and other IT tools

Well-equipped Laboratory for TB testing –sputum microscopy, with Biosafety Cabinet(Navakar Class II), My Lab Pathodetector(Compact XL), Truenaat- MTB (Molbio), Fluorescent Microscope(Zeiss), Light Microscope(Olympus) etc

NIRT Vehicles for field visit

Kumar SR, Hissar SS, Ramesh PM, Shanmugam M, Kalaiselvan V, Prakash J, Padmapriyadarsini C. Ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy: should we mandate ophthalmic examination in TB treatment? Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2024 Jan 1;28(1):51-53. doi: 10.5588/ijtld.23.0304. PMID: 38178302.

Kumar, S. Ramesh; Kandhasamy, Chandrasekaran; Velayutham, V. Banurekha; Chinnaiyan, Ponnuraja; Kannan, Muthuramalingam; Jawahar, M. S.; Padmapriyadarsini, C.. Hematological Parameters in Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis and its Presentation among Favorable and Unfavorable Treatment Outcomes. Indian Journal of Public Health 68(3):p 362-365, Jul–Sep 2024. | DOI: 10.4103/ijph.ijph_918_23

Ramesh Kumar S, Narendran G, Padmapriyadarsini C. Role for Linezolid in drug sensitive tuberculosis. J Infect Public Health. 2024 Jan;17(1):172-174. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2023.11.012. Epub 2023 Nov 13. PMID: 38039860

Ramesh Kumar S, Prathiksha Giridharan, Karikalan Nagarajan, Priscilla Rebecca, Yasaswany Santhoshkumar, Murugesan Periyasamy, Asha Frederick, Adhin Bhaskar, Anil Singarajipura, Mukesh Kumar. Implementation challenges of 3-month once-weekly rifapentine and isoniazid TB-preventive treatment in India. International Health, ihag014. https://doi.org/10.1093/inthealth/ihag014

Navaneethapandian Pooranagangadevi and Chandrasekaran Padmapriyadarsini* Review article on ‘Treatment of Tuberculosis and the drug interactions associated with HIV-TB co-infection treatment’ for the Frontiers in Tropical Diseases journal. Front. Trop. Dis, 13 May 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fitd.2022.834013

Pooranagangadevi Naveneethapandian, Banurekha Velayutham, Mahalakshmi Rajendran, Prabhakaran Rathinam, ZufireHassan MohamedKhan. Contact Screening and yield of Tuberculosis from Pediatric TB Index cases. Article 552, 4-1, Jan-Mar 2024, Tamilnadu Journal of Public Health and Medical Research.

Chapter-22 Newer Tuberculin—CTB: Profile in Developing Countries By: Poornaganga Devi, C Padmapriyadarsini (2023) Edition: 5/e Essentials of Tuberculosis in Children.

Navaneethapandian, P.; Sarma, P.S.; Rajendran, M.; Thankappan, K.R. Lung Function Impairment and Its Associated Factors in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients Upon Treatment Completion in Madurai District, Tamil Nadu: A Cross-Sectional Study. Cureus 2026, 18, https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.103941.

Kumar RS, Devi KR, Dusthackeer A, Nirmal CR. Ofloxacin resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis: An increasing concern. Indian J Health Sci Biomed Res 2021;14:302-9

Ramesh Kumar S, Shrinivasa BM, Syed Hissar S, Rajasakthivel M. Ethical implications of National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme(NTEP) in India-a framework based analysis Int J Health Allied Sci 2021;10:253-6

Efficacy and tolerability of a 4-month ofloxacin-containing regimen compared to a 6-month regimen in the treatment of patients with superficial lymph node tuberculosis: a randomized trial - Syed Hissar, Banurekha Velayutham, Manoharan Tamizhselvan, Sridhar Rathinam, Chinnadurai Arunbabu, Jayanthi Bharathi Vidhya, Gurusamy Vargunapandian, Anandakrishnan Sundararajaperumal, Gomathi Narayan Sivaramakrishnan, Silambu Chelvi, Paranchi Murugesan Ramesh, Damodharan Arun, Sirasanambati Devarajulu Reddy, Paramasivam Paul Kumaran, Marimuthu Makesh Kumar, Dharuman Kalaiselvi, Luke Elizabeth Hanna, Hemanth Kumar, Alagarsamy Gowrisankar, Ramasamy Rajavelu, Lavanya Jayabal, Chinnayan Ponnuraja & Dhanaraj Baskaran -BMC Infectious Diseases volume 24, Article number: 729 (2024)

Qualitative Study of Nutritional Support-Related Perceptions and Preferences Among Persons Affected by TB, Family Caregivers, and Healthcare Providers in India Balaji Ramraj , Karikalan Nagarajan , Debjani Ram Purakayastha , Major Madhukar , Makesh Kumar , Neha Raj , Sarath Kumar , Banappa S. Unger , Nithin Rajamani , Sampada Dipak Bangar , Murugesan Periyasamy , Hansraj Choudhary , Yasaswany Santhoshkumar , Ramesh Kumar , Seema Sahay , Nivedita Gupta and Chandrasekaran Padmapriyadarsini - Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2025, 10, 114

Supporting the Pharmacovigilance Program of India by Adverse Drug Reactions(ADR) Reporting through NIRT ADR Monitoring Centre

Supporting Smoking Cessation programs of the district by closely working with Tobacco Cessation Clinic at Govt Rajaji Hospital, Madurai

Supporting Multidisciplinary Research Units(MRU) at Madurai Medical College and Theni Medical College representing in Local Research advisory Committee

Supporting the State/ District focused research through Model Rural Health Research Unit(MRHRU) Madurai

Research Capacity Strengthening of Faculties and Students

Patient Care support including Pharmacokinetic assays for patients referred from State side, AFB staining services to diagnose Leprosy for referrals from Dermatology dept., GRH, Madurai