1. What is your current role at the CMRI?

I am currently working as a post-doctoral research scholar in the lab of Dr. Rangaraj Selvarangan at CMRI. Our lab is one of the sites for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program “New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN)” where we assess pediatric viral respiratory and gastrointestinal infections and the impact of vaccines in children. With that goal in mind, I am working on two gastrointestinal pathogens, rotavirus and norovirus, trying to detect their viral load in saliva from children with symptoms of acute gastroenteritis.

But I spend the majority of my time in understanding the fundamentals of a really interesting virus called Parechovirus-A (PeV-A). This virus is usually associated with mild clinical symptoms, but the PeV-A3 genotype causes central nervous system infections and severe systemic illness, especially in infants less than 6 months of age. No specific treatment exists for this viral infection, and in 2022, the CDC issued a health advisory warning due to an increased circulation of PeV-A among infants. For us to come up with effective therapeutics against it, we really need to better understand the fundamentals of this virus, which is what I am trying to do.

2. What drew you to a career in research at the CMRI? 

I grew up in a very musical family, and I learnt how to improvise and be creative in music from a young age. So, I don't know. Maybe because of that, I was really drawn into hypothesis driven research; here too you have to be creative and improvise while doing your experiments. As my wife and I were finishing up grad school at Iowa State University, we looked for research positions around Iowa so that we could stay close to our family. For my research, I wanted to do a post-doc where I could work with clinically significant viruses. So, when this post-doctoral position opened up in infectious diseases in the lab of Dr. Selvarangan, it looked like a great fit for me. It's been a year for me now in this lab, and I feel I am learning a lot from this experience.

3. What are your research/career goals? 

My career goal is to become a research faculty and have a lab of my own.

4. What is your favorite thing about working at the CMRI?

I greatly enjoy working so closely with clinical samples and clinicians. It gives me a great sense of fulfillment knowing that the viruses that I am working with are directly coming from patients and are not lab-adapted strains, so some of the answers that I will generate from my data will likely make a larger impact while coming up with any kind of therapeutic interventions.

5. What is on your bucket list? 

1. Attending the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

2. Trip to the Caribbean islands.

3. Visiting every national park in the US.