Email

avadhanu@bcm.edu

Positions

Assistant Professor

Virol & Micro: Piedra
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Education

PhD from University of Tennessee

Memphis, Tennessee United States

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine

Houston, Texas United States

Postdoctoral Fellowship at Indiana University

Bloomington, Indiana United States

Professional Statement

Dr. Vasanthi Avadhanula is an assistant professor at the Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology. She also serves as Co-Director of the Pandemic Threat Technology Center (PTTC) at BCM, where she helps develop diagnostic tools to respond to emerging viral threats. Dr. Avadhanula's research primarily focuses on respiratory viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2. Her interests encompass viral etiology, epidemiology, virus-host interactions, viral evolution, and wastewater-based epidemiology. She has played a significant role in developing human nose and lung organoids to study respiratory viruses in pediatric and adult populations. These organoids serve as disease models for studying host-pathogen interactions and therapeutic evaluation. Additionally, she has contributed to developing viral diagnostic assays and sequencing protocols.