Zika virus and the subsequent mosquito-borne disease, Zika was a matter of much attention back in January the disease spread to US and 33 other countries causing birth defects. And to curb this spread, a group of researchers in the US, cam up with a team that would break down and decode the virus, one among which is Devika Sirohi, a 29-year-old doctoral student at Purdue University born in Meerut. Devika is one the youngest members in the team of 7 that was able to break through the structure of the virus, that will help in developing a cure for it.

Devika, who was born in Meerut, studies at Dayawati Modi Academy at the same city.

Her other qualifications include:

Graduation in Biochemistry honors from Delhi University.

M.Sc from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

PhD in ‘Structure and Maturation of Flaviviruses’ from Purdue University located in West Lafayette, Indian.

A graduate research assistant who will be submitting her thesis by the year end.

Co-author of “The 3.8 Å resolution cryo-EM structure of Zika virus

Devika said that the decoding of the virus was a major hurdle for her and her team

She also added,” It took us four months to identify the structure of the virus. Out of the seven-member team, three were professors and four students, including me. During the period of the research, we barely slept for two to three hours a day, but our hard work finally paid off. This discovery will help doctors and researchers to find a cure for the deadly disease that has been reported in 33 countries.”