Somya Aggarwal

I have been in the field of infectious diseases for about ten years, ever since completing my PhD in infectious diseases in 2015. Growing up in India, I was surrounded by many infectious diseases and later learned how they impact people worldwide, especially in developing countries, which inspired me to dedicate my career to this area. During my PhD, I was fortunate to work in the lab of Dr. Rakesh Bhatnagar on anthrax, a bioterror organism, which gave me a strong foundation in microbial pathogenesis. After that, I sought further training and applied globally for postdoctoral opportunities, eventually joining Washington University to work with Dr. Amanda Lewis on bacterial vaginosis and later transitioning to viral pathogenesis with Dr. Megan Parish, focusing on enteric viruses like norovirus and their interactions with gut bacteria.
In July 2018, I started working at Washington University, where I now serve as a Senior Scientist with combined research, administrative, and managerial responsibilities. My expertise lies in microbial pathogenesis, both bacterial and viral, and currently in norovirus pathogenesis and how enteric viruses affect the health of newborn babies in both developing and developed countries. A typical day for me starts around 8, reading about new developments in my field, planning and running experiments, and using incubation times to handle administrative work and collaborations across different departments to improve how we organize and conduct our research. I also mentor graduate students and technicians, teaching them techniques and tools, helping with experiment design and troubleshooting, and sharing the methods I have learned throughout my career. My long-term goal is to develop probiotics that can help combat different kinds of enteric virus infections by understanding how gut commensal bacteria interact with these viruses to promote infection.