Senior in Bioengineering
Hometown: Naperville, Illinois
Research Project: Bugs as Drugs: Engineering Commensal Bacteria for Therapeutic Delivery
Faculty Sponsor: Prof. Shannon Sirk
Research Mentor: Vince Kelly

Shweta started getting involved in research in her second semester at Illinois. As an undergraduate researcher in the Prof. Andrew Smith’s lab, she studied the activity of quantum dots in mammalian tissue and learned about tissue culture. Shweta is a preparatory staff member in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department where she has been developing lab skills and ensuring the proper use of biological equipment. In her current research in the Sirk Research Group, Shweta is creating a synthetic biology toolbox to manipulate Lactobacillus species.

She is also in the Cancer Scholars Program Class of 2022. She plans to pursue a PhD and continue doing research with the goal of working in research and development for treatments for diseases found in countries with limited healthcare.

Fun Facts: Shweta is treasurer of the UIUC chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance. Her hobbies include reading, painting, working out, and watching TV.

In Fall 2022, she will be starting graduate school for a post-graduate degree in Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, hopefully pursuing research in similar fields to the one she is currently
in, BIOE, Microbial Engineering and/or Protein Engineering.