Post-doctoral researcher Saurabh Gautam will be leaving us soon! Saurabh has accepted a post-doc position in the Texas A&M University Department of Entomology in Amarillo, TX. He will be studying mite-transmitted viruses in wheat crops under the direction of Kiran Gadhave, who is a Srinivasan Lab alumnus himself!
Before staying on as a post-doc, Saurabh completed his PhD in the Srinivasan Lab. He graduated in 2019 with his dissertation titled, “The role of Bemisia tabaci in the transmission of vegetable viruses in the farmscape of Georgia.” Saurabh’s dissertation explored:
- The physiological effects of virus infection on B. tabaci whiteflies
- Virus transmission by whiteflies between different plant hosts
- The host range of Sida golden mosaic virus in Georgia
- Genetic differences of B. tabaci across Georgia farmscapes
- Differences in virus transmission between B. tabaci MEAM1 and MED species
Most recently, Saurabh has been working on the physiology and movement of viruses within whitefly vectors and characteristics of mixed infections.
Saurabh is a fixture in our lab and well of institutional knowledge. He has been a friend and resource for many in the Srinivasan Lab over the years. Although he will still be collaborating on manuscripts with Srinivasan Lab members, we are losing a true MVP!
Best of luck, Saurabh!
