Mandira Varma Basil is a Medical Microbiologist currently working at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, Delhi, India where she is incharge of the Mycobacteriology unit. She obtained her MD in Microbiology from the University of Delhi. She is also a Diplomate of National Board of Examinations. She has been working in the field of Mycobacteriology for the past 21 years. She is the recipient of the Department of Biotechnology Overseas Associateship, the Indian Council of Medical Research International Fellowship and several best paper awards. Her main areas of interest include TB diagnosis, drug resistance in M. tuberculosis, molecular epidemiology of M. tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria.