The Department of Microbiology is a collaborative laboratory operation between Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health Network (UHN).

We are recognized as a center of excellence and have become a prime reference center for both hospital and private sector laboratories. We offer state-of-the-art diagnostic services, infection control programs, method development and research.

As an innovation driven team, we are able to offer the full range of high quality microbiology services, from routine cultures and sensitivities to molecular typing of organisms. New assays are continually being developed by our medical and scientific staff in response to clinical and research needs.

For more information on the services our department can offer, please visit our Services section.

We provide services to several other hospitals and institutions, including the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, bone banks, eye banks, tissue banks, the Coroner's Office, the Baycrest Centre, the Queen Street Mental Health Centre and other hospitals and institutions.

The department has a medical, scientific and technical education program. Medical programs and scientific programs include postgraduate and graduate students, undergraduate medical and dental students, and fellows, elective and selective students. Technical education includes training of technicians and technologists in partnership with the Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences and St. Lawrence College.

The department has a common state-of–the–art laboratory information system (Soft Computers) and equipment designed to deliver accurate results in a timely manner at both sites. Both sites use identical equipment:

• bioMeriéux Vitek for the routine identification and susceptibility testing of isolates.
• Organon Teknika BacT/Alert for blood cultures.
• Abbott Axsym and bioMeriéux Vidas for serology testing.
• Roche Cobas for routine PCR assays.
• Thermal Cyclers and Molecular typing equipment for the detection and typing of Nosocomial pathogens.

The research activities of the department are varied and range from routine method development through evaluation of commercially available test kits, to basic research on bacterial resistance mechanisms; population based epidemiology and clinical implications of invasive bacterial and viral infections; and clinical trials of new treatments and vaccines. These research programs are collaborative initiatives, which are externally funded through peer-reviewed grants and commercial sponsorships.

Members of the department are actively involved in international health initiatives in Russia, Kenya and India designed to provide expertise and technology transfer to these developing areas.