Surabhi Sonam’s interest in biology stems from her family, primarily from her childhood conversations with her father, a veterinary surgeon. “My dad was the biggest inspiration for me. He used to teach me biology, physics, and chemistry and we often discussed concepts and theories of biology for long hours,” Sonam said.
After securing her bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences from University of Delhi in India, she completed her MS in Biotechnology. An internship opportunity at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology inIndia helped her make the final decision. “I knew I wanted to conduct more research, so I got a job as a research intern at the Institute of Microbial Technology,” she said. “I came to UIUC in 2015 for my PhD and joined the lab of Dr. Jonathan Henry in CDB and there has been no looking back since then.”
Conversations on biology have been a great bonding factor with her husband, a research scientist in Comparative Biosciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
What else keeps her busy? On the weekends, they love to explore. “I’d like to go to all of the state parks in Illinois. We’ve also been to Michigan, the Indiana Dunes, Muskegon, the Rocky Mountains... I try to travel as much as I can.” The other passion they share is cooking—watching food shows and cooking together on the weekends. “It’s a great stressbuster!”
Surabhi received the Chester and Nadine Houston Graduate Fellowship, which enabled her to go to the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts for a week. She attended a workshop called “Frontiers in Stem Cells and Regeneration,” which focused on a variety of biological research organisms, including zebrafish, worms, and mice. Throughout this workshop, they conducted research in state-of-the-art facilities alongside experts in the field.
She also received the Tom and Cynthia Cycyota Research Fellowship. “Mr. Cycyota has been very supportive. I first met him in 2016 when he was giving a talk at the Institute for Genomic Biology.” They’ve stayed in touch and have discussed her interest in regenerative medicine.
While at Illinois, she also started the alumni career development series, which aims to educate graduate students about careers in four fields working at a research university, industry, scientific writing, and teaching faculty (like at a liberal arts college).
With the help of Prof. Jie Chen and Office Administrator Laura Martin, their student-led team identified several alumni in all different fields. “Their talks helped open our perspective and explore all of our options.”
Surabhi also led the team to organize the 2018 CDB Retreat, which was a great success!
Her advice to other graduate students is to interact and participate as much as they can.