Arya Rao is an MD-PhD candidate in the Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program. In the Sabeti Lab, she has worked on topics ranging from generative sequence design to Ebola variant analysis. Additionally, she works on science education initiatives through Operation Outbreak. She broadly aims to use patterns of genetic variation to characterize disease-associated molecular phenomena and leverage these findings for clinical applications.

Arya studied Biochemistry and Computer Science at Columbia University, where she earned the Bridges and Sturtevant Prize for best undergraduate research in biology and the David B. Truman Alumni Award for the greatest contribution to the academic affairs of Columbia College. As an undergraduate, she worked on adaptive evolution in D. melanogaster with Peter Andolfatto and Martin Kreitman.

Outside of the lab, you can find Arya playing saxophone, swimming and playing water polo competitively, and singing in the Longwood Chorus.