Scientist: Avni Bhalgat, Ph.D. Candidate

Avni is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the lab of Glen Barber at the University of Miami. She is working on novel immunotherapeutics utilizing oncolytic viruses.

She has a depth of experience in various cancer types and her research has varied over the years. Her interests lie in drug development and immunotherapies. While completing her undergraduate degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Purdue University, Avni worked in labs that ranged from using a bioinformatics approach to identify targeted therapies for lung cancer patients, to using protein crystallography to find drug targets for various receptors associated with cancer progression and metastasis.

She is deeply involved in her research, advocacy, and on-campus/off-campus organizations. She is passionate about scientific communication and increasing access to technical scientific information for non-scientific communities.

Twitter: @AvniBhalgat