Chitra Pai, MD, D (ABMM)

She/Her/Hers

Biography

A full time Professor in Basic Sciences, I teach Clinical Microbiology to the preclinical medical students and the Master of Science students. I am also the course coordinator of the Integrated Systems-GERD course and the Global Health Program. My experience as a medical educator, clinical laboratory director and researcher spans 26 years across several global locations in India, Nepal, the Caribbean islands and the United States. Aside teaching students of medicine, dentistry and nursing, I have guided several students pursuing the Masters and PhD courses. As the Director of microbiology laboratories, I was responsible for diagnostic test reporting as well for guiding the Hospital Infection Control Program and Antibiotic Stewardship Programs of affiliated hospitals. My research areas have included Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Enterococci and Pseudomonas with a focus on microbial virulence factors and alternative antimicrobial agents. Additional areas of interest include Global Health, HIV seroprevalence and its association with opportunistic infections, tuberculosis and malaria. Among my publications are included several interesting ‘ Case reports’ encountered during my practice of laboratory medicine. A study on ‘The carriage of nosocomial pathogens by mobile phones of Health Care Personnel’, received an award from the Hospital Infection Control Society of India and was highlighted on National Television. I am enthusiastic about melding my clinical experience with innovative pedagogical techniques for promoting critical thinking and clinical problem solving skills among students and have successfully used active learning pedagogy including Case Based Learning and Team Based Learning for teaching students.

Education

• MD (Doctorate of Medicine) and MBBS ( Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Belgaum, India.
• Awarded a post-doctoral FAIMER fellowship for the Advancement of Medical Education and Research by the FAIMER foundation, Philadelphia.
• Trained at the Laboratory Medicine division of the University of Minnesota College of Medicine and is board certified by the American Board of Medical Microbiologists.

Honors and Awards

• 2022 Presidential Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award for the Touro College and University System(TCUS)-across all TCUS constituent colleges in New York, Nevada, and California.
• 2021-2022 Basic Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California
• 2021 First Annual TUC Outstanding Teaching Award from the the Office of the Provost and Center for Innovative Learning and Teaching(CILT), Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California
• 2021 Featured in FAIMER fellow highlights of the Foundation for Advancement of Medical Education and Research, Philadelphia
• 2021 Basic Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California
• 2020 Touro University Faculty Innovation grant for "Case Based Flipped e-classrooms to S.P.I.C.E up the e-learning of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases"
• 2020 Touro University Faculty Innovation grant for ‘Bedside to Community’ Virtual Global Health project
• 2020 Featured in FAIMER fellow highlights of the Foundation for Advancement of Medical Education and Research, Philadelphia
• 2019-2020- Basic Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California
• 2018-2019-Basic Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California
• 2017-Outstanding Professor award for the best Basic Sciences teacher (Year 2) by the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2017-Best Teaching Professor award in the ‘Disease Immunity Therapeutics’ course by the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2017- Most approachable teacher award by the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2017 Most entertaining professor award by the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2016 Outstanding Professor award for the best Basic Sciences teacher (Year 2) by the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2016 Best Teaching Professor award in the ‘Disease Immunity Therapeutics’ course by the students at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine.
• 2015 MaGEX (Manipal Global Excellence) International award for academic excellence by the Manipal Global Education Inc.
• 2015 and 2016-Featured in FAIMER fellow highlights of the Foundation for Advancement of Medical Education and Research, Philadelphia.
• 2015 Young Scientist award 2015 awarded by the Photon Foundation to my team of researchers.
• 2013 Best paper award for the paper, Emergence of unusual species of enterococci causing infections in Navi Mumbai at the UGC Sponsored Microbiology Horizons in Biomedical Sciences conference.
• 2012 Best poster presentation award for the research paper ‘A comparative evaluation of conventional staining methods and immunological techniques for the diagnosis of malaria’ by the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology, India.
• 2011 Featured in FAIMER fellow highlights of the Foundation for Advancement of Medical Education and Research, Philadelphia
• 2010 First prize for poster presentation entitled, ‘Quick and quantitative detection of Hepatitis B virus by Real Time Polymerase Chain (RT-PCR): a promising molecular diagnostic approach’, at ‘Frontiers in Biotechnology’ - National seminar at Navi Mumbai, India.
• 2009 First prize for poster presentation entitled, ‘A study of the microbial flora harbored by mobile phones of health care workers’ at the National Conference of the Hospital Infection Society of India, (HISICON).
• 1998 Award by the Rotary International to represent India at Norway for a Group Study Exchange Program. 1996 M.D. (Medical Microbiology)-graduated Magna cum Laude
• 2022-23 Basic Sciences Teacher of the Year Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California.
• 2023 The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P Gold Foundation.
• 2023-24 Foundational Biomedical Sciences 'Teacher of the Year' Award, Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, California.

Research

Research areas include Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), Enterococci and Pseudomonas with a focus on microbial virulence factors and alternative antimicrobial agents.

Additional areas of interest include Global Health, HIV seroprevalence and its association with opportunistic infections, tuberculosis and malaria.

Recent Publications

Manuscripts in refereed journals:

1. Bhat C, Hemashettar BM and Patil CS. Arcanobacterium hemolyticum in chronic wound         infections. Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology 1997; 15 (1): 41-42.

2. Bhat Chitra and Patil CS. Etiology of dysuria in pregnant women. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology of India1997; 47 (3).

3. Geetha TV, Krishnanand BR, and Pai Chitra G: Cysticercosis of breast-a rare presentation. Journal of   the Nepal Medical Association 2000; 39, 133: 184-85.

4. Chitra Pai, Kiran Shah, Singh TSK. Fixed cutaneous Sporotrichosis. J.Nep Med Assoc 2000; 39: 228-231. 

5. Chitra Pai, Sanjay Bagchi, Vandana Gupta et al. Disseminated Gonococcal Infection in pregnancy.  Indian Journal of Medical Microbiology 2001; 19 (1): 40-42.

6. R Biswas, A Bhardwaj, R Aggrawal, Chitra Pai, Geetha Krishnanand, Tapati Sen, KJ Shetty.  An unusual paratyphoid fever. JAPI 2001; 49: 477-478.

7. Chitra Pai, Kiran Shah. Antibiotic Susceptibility pattern of Staphylococcus aureus with special      reference to Methicillin resistance – a preliminary report. Journal of Nepal Medical Association 2001; 40: 63-66.

8. Suman P. Rao, Kalpana Rajiv Kumar, V. R. Rokade, Vikram Khanna, Chitra Pai. Orbital apex   syndrome due to Mucormycosis caused by Rhizopus microsporum. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery 2006; 58 (1).  

9. Chitra Pai. Getting started in one’s role as a teacher: Review article. MGMUHS Medical Newsletter 2009; 5: 2.

10. Chitra Pai. Accreditation of Clinical Laboratories: The journey towards better quality and     standards in the Microbiology laboratory. MGMUHS Medical Newsletter 2010; 8: 5-6.

11. Chitra Pai. Benches top to the bed side- an integrated approach in the Microbiology curriculum. MGMUHS Medical New letter 2011; 9: 5.

12. Chitra Pai and Shraddha Pai. Gene Therapy in Medicine: An Overview. MGMUHS Medical  News letter 2011; 11: 8. 

13. Vaishali Solanke, Chitra Pai, A.D.Urhekar. A Comparative Bacteriological Study of Community Acquired Pneumonia versus Ventilator Associated Pneumonia. Bombay Hospital Journal 2011; 53(2): 159-165. 

14. Vaishali Solanke, Chitra Pai, Sanjay.G.Surase. Aeromonas hydrophila causing acute   gastroenteritis in a child. Bombay Hospital Journal 2011; 53, Special issue.

15. Chitra Pai, Ujjwala Kulkarni, Manjusha Borde, Sowmya Murali, P. Mrudula and Yashwant Deshmukh. Antibacterial activity of Tridax procumbens with special reference to nosocomial pathogens.  British Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 2011. 1(4):164-173.

16. Sharvari Samant, Chitra Pai. Inducible Clindamycin Resistance among clinical isolates of  Staphylococci. MGMUHS Medical Newsletters, 2011; 12: 2-4.

17. Nikhil.N.Tambe and Chitra Pai. A study of Microbial flora and MRSA harbored by mobile phones of Health care personnel. International Journal of recent trends in Science and Technology, 2012; 4(1):14-18. 

18. Sharvari Amol Samant and Chitra Pai. Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus Phage-Types and their Correlation to Anti-Microbial Resistance. International Journal of Medical and Pharma Research, 2012; 2(1) : 32-37.

19. Chitra Pai, Tavleen Jaggi, Shalini Gore and Harapriya Kar.  Practical Skills Evaluation of Medical Students with a Mini-Objective Structured Practical Examination (OSPE) for Nosocomial Infections. International Journal of User Driven Health Care. 2012; 2 (3): 24-31. 

20. Sharvari Samant and Pai Chitra G. Evaluation of different detection methods of biofilm formation in clinical isolates of Staphylococci. Int J Pharm Bio Sci, 2012; 3(4): (B) 724 – 733.

21.Sharma Revati, Pai (Bhat) Chitra, Urhekar A.D. A  Clinico-microbiological Study of Enterococcus Species with Special Reference to Its Virulence Factors. International Journal of Recent Trends in Science and Technology 2012; 5(2): 94-99.

22. Gore Shalini, Pai Chitra. Incidence of metallo beta lactamase producing gram negative non fermenters in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Navi Mumbai. Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia, 2012; 9(2): 825-829.

23. Sharma Revati, Chapagain Bipin, Pai (Bhat) Chitra. In vitro antibacterial activity of seven spices against clinical isolates of enterococci. Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2013 Jan; 3(1): 298-304.

24. Sharma Revati, Chitra Pai, Harapriya Kar.A Retrospective Analysis of Discordant CD4 and Viral Load Responses in HIV Patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 2013; 3(1)1-3.

25. Samir Pachpute, Chitra Pai, A.D. Urhekar. A comparative evaluation of conventional staining methods and immunological techniques for the diagnosis of malaria. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences 2013; 2(7) 712-724. 

26. Revati Sharma, Chitra Pai. Prevalence of Various Enterococcal Infections and Its Antibiotic Susceptibility with Special Reference to Vancomycin and High Level Gentamicin Resistance in a Tertiary Care Centre in Navi Mumbai. Int. J. Pharm. Sci. Rev. Res 2013; 23(2),122-125.

27. Nikhil Payal, Nitin Goel , Chitra Pai et al. A Bacteriological Study Of Vaginal Flora In Mothers At Term.World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research 2014; 3(4), 591-598. 

28. Tavleen Jaggi, A.D. Urhekar, Chitra Pai et al.  A Study of Candida Species in Various Clinical Samples in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Double Helix Research International Journal Of Medical Sciences (DHR-IJMS) 2014 ;5(2), 83-88.

29. Gupta Tanuj, Singh Brij Nandan, Pai Chitra, Kar Harapriya and Yadav Ramesh. Incidence       of Dermatophyts Infection in Patients Visiting a Tertiary Care Centre. Photon Journal of Microbiology, 2015; 108: 236-243.

30. Samir Pachpute, Preeti Pachpute and Chitra Pai. Role of a Parasite Lactate Dehydrogenase-Based Immunochromatographic Antigen Detection Assay for the Detection of Malarial Parasites in HumanBlood Samples. International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences 2015; 4(3), 98-107. 

31. Sharma Revati , Chapagain Bipin , Pai (Bhat) Chitra , Bhattacharjee Minakshi.  In vitro antibacterial activity of seven Indian spices against high level gentamicin resistant strains of enterococci. Archives of  Medical  Sciences, 2015; 11(4), 863-868.

32. Harapriya Kar, Chitra (Bhat) Pai, Revati Sharma et al. A profile of tuberculosis cases
among HIV positive patients in Navi Mumbai. International Journal of Life Sciences and   Pharma Research, 2015; 5(3), 58-61.

33. Pai Chitra, Kadam N, Singh A, Kar H, Urhekar A, et al. (2016) Trends in the Seroprevalence of Human    Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Pregnant Women Attending a Tertiary Care Center in Navi Mumbai, Western India. J AIDS Clin Res 7: 633. doi: 10.4172/2155-6113.1000633s

34. Sanjay Kaira, Chitra Pai. A Study of uropathogenic E.coli with special reference to its virulence factors. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health 2017; 5(1):177

35. Chitra Pai. "Case Based Flipped e-classrooms to S.P.I.C.E up the e-learning of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases’’. Paper abstract accepted for presentation and publication in the IAMSE conference proceedings and the Medical Science Educator-June 2021

Books:

1.    Samir Pachpute and Chitra Pai. Staining v/s Immunological Techniques for the Diagnosis of Malaria.  LAP LAMBERT; Academic Publishing ISBN-10: 3659369209. March 24, 2013.

2.    Sharvari Samant and C. G Pai. ‘Characterization and Resisto-typing of Pathogenic Staphylococci’ Scholar’s press; ISBN-10: 3639704754. February 26, 2014 

Memberships and Affiliations

Fellow of the FAIMER foundation, Philadelphia
The Association of College of University Educators (ACUE) scholar
Board certified by American Board of Medical Microbiology.
Member, American Society of Microbiologists(ASM)
Member, International Association of Medical Science Educators( IAMSE)

Teaching Responsibilities

Fundamentals of Medicine course, Integrated Systems-Cardiovascular, Respiratory and Renal course, Integrated Systems-Musculoskeletal and Neurology course, Integrated Systems-Gastrointestinal, Endocrine, Reproductive, Dermatology course for medical students. Immunity and Infection course for Master of Science in Medical Health Sciences students. Global Health Program course.