The Virology Department has started its activities since the establishment of the Faculty of Public Health in 1966 as one of the departments of the Department of Pathobiology in education and research, and in 2012 it has become a Virology Department. This group is one of the oldest and most influential departments (groups) in the School of Public Health. Among the professors who have served in this group for the past 50 years are influential people in the faculty, university and the country, and these talented professors have trained efficient and influential graduates who are serving in universities and research centers. During the years of its activity, this group has had more than 200 graduates in master's and doctoral degrees. One of the strengths of this group is the existence of four active national laboratories including influenza, polio, measles and rubella, which are among the prestigious laboratories in the Eastern Mediterranean region of WHO, which can be an honor for the Faculty of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Iran. Now, Dr. Vahid Salimi is the director of the virology department.
During the covid-19 pandemic, the Virology Department played a very important role. In February 2020, the first laboratory diagnosis of covid-19 in Iran was detected in the Virology Department. In addition, the National Influenza Laboratory played a significant role in the molecular diagnosis of covid-19 on a 24-hour, non-stop basis. The first NGS test for full-genome SARS Coronavirus-2 in Iran was performed in the Virology Department.
