Samarth Islam

Samarth is from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he majored in Microbiology, graduating cum laude in 2022, and joining the clinical microbiology industry afterwards. He then pursued an MSc in Infection Biology from the United Kingdom, working at the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research for his thesis, graduating with a Distinction in 2024. At the Grove Lab, he delved into the unknowns of the virome and topics of viral evolution, structural bioinformatics, protein structure prediction and ML. Samarth has thus built a strong interdisciplinary foundation in clinical microbiology, structural biology, computational biology, and big data analysis.

He joined the Gregory Lab in January 2026 as a PhD student. His doctoral work will touch upon aspects of host-pathogen interactions and elucidate which proteins of the gut microbiome are targeted by the human immune system in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This will lead to a better understanding of cross-reactivity of antibody repertoires and aid in designing novel therapeutic interventions.

Samarth spends most of his free time diving into classic literature, photography, playing the guitar or piano, and producing music. To stay active, he enjoys hikes, long nature walks, and sweating his brow at professional table tennis.