Divya Beri looks for vulnerabilities in parasites that she could use to develop new therapeutics.
Divya Beri is a postdoctoral researcher at the New York Blood Center studying host-parasite interactions, attempting to identify new drug targets. In this Postdoc Portrait, she shares how seeing the effects of malaria first-hand inspired her to pursue research in the area.
Q | How did you first get interested in your field of research?
Growing up in India, I often saw the scourge of infectious diseases, especially malaria, in the rainy season. This inspired me to start my research in this domain—and this was manifested when I did my PhD at the Indian Institute of Science with Utpal Tatu whose lab is a leader in malaria research in India.
Q | Tell us about your favorite research project you’re working on.
My favorite project is studying why parasites cannot grow in certain red blood cells (RBCs). The factor that stops their invasion or growth inside RBCs could provide the clue to ending these diseases. For example, we see that in Africa the heterozygous sickle gene in RBCs has been selected for—even though the sickle gene is deleterious. This is because of the highly devastating effects of malaria in the region and the fact that sickle cells do not support parasite growth.
Q | What has been the most exciting part of your scientific career so far?
Each experiment, each result, and each question that I have had the privilege to ask along this journey has been truly exciting. I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with so many interesting scientists. I believe that it’s the people you work with and the questions you ask which lead you to exciting discoveries and hopefully a cure for a disease!
Q | If you could be a laboratory instrument, which one would you be and why?
Maybe a microscope! It’s the microscope that opens up the world of images for you and each image, especially in biology, is worth a thousand experiments.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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