Shri Vishalini Rajaram is a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Human Toxicology at the University of Iowa, where she works in Dr. Erliang Zeng’s BioComs Lab at the College of Dentistry. Originally from India and trained in genetic engineering and computational biology, she was drawn to research by the untapped potential of publicly available biological data to answer important questions about human health.

Working at the intersection of microbiology, toxicology, and computational biology, Vishalini studies how microorganisms in the mouth respond to changing conditions and contribute to tooth decay. By examining microbial DNA, RNA, and proteins, she investigates the strategies that help these communities adapt. She also develops computational tools to make complex biological data more accessible and reproducible for researchers.

Her long-term goal is to understand how environmental exposures reshape microbial communities and what those changes mean for human health. Passionate about science communication, she creates science comics (published a collaborative series for high schoolers - Research at UIowa: A Comic Series) and builds communities that encourage scientific exchange and outreach. When she is not experimenting with data, she experiments in the kitchen, exploring vegetarian cuisines from around the world and creating nutritious fusion recipes. She also enjoys dancing Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance form.