Hemant Naikare

I am a board certified diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists with twenty years of experience in the field of diagnostic microbiology: classical and conventional methodologies to detect diseases of livestock, companion animals, zoonotic diseases, food safety, antimicrobial resistance and public health. Currently, I am a tenured Professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and serve as the Director of the Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory (TVDIL). The TVDIL is an AAVLD accredited all animal species full-service veterinary diagnostic laboratory in South Georgia.I oversee the operations, budgeting, quality control, safety, human resources, strategic planning, marketing and outreach efforts. My lab consisting of ~40 employees and has an annual operating budget of $3.5 million USD. Earlier, I have worked as a Section Head of Bacteriology & Molecular Diagnostics at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for over 10 years. I have partnered with food animal veterinarians, small animal practitioners and scientists on research projects that directly impact the animal health industry, food safety, microbial pathogenesis & zoonosis/public health. I am passionate about developing novel disease diagnostic & surveillance platforms for rapid & accurate microbial detection & monitoring of antimicrobial resistance at point-of-care & laboratory settings. I have served on the editorial board of the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation and I currently serve as a reviewer for several peer reviewed journals in the field of human & veterinary microbiology. I serve as a reviewer on NIH-CSR grant review panels since 2015. I have served as an ad-hoc consultant for the American Society for Microbiology and as a consultant on USDA-sponsored projects in the field of diagnostic microbiology in Central America, Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Currently my laboratory is funded by multiple USDA grants to develop enhanced diagnostic solutions for infectious diseases of poultry and swine: “Enhancing avian diagnostics testing capacity for the detection & differentiation of avian influenza virus & Newcastle disease virus from other significant viral respiratory disease agents by multiplex real-time RT-PCR assays”; “Enhancing Swine Diagnostics for the detection and differentiation of ASF and CSF from other economically significant septicemic diseases”. I am also interested in creating opportunities for the next generation of life science scientists, clinicians, veterinarians, public health professionals, pharmacists & allied health sciences by offering experiential learning training programs in laboratory settings through workshops and courses for undergraduate & graduate/resident students, especially from underrepresented & underserved communities.