Dr. Kristen M. Ogden is an an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She earned her B.S. in Microbiology from Auburn University and her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University. Her research centers on segmented double-stranded RNA viruses, such as rotaviruses and reoviruses, focusing on their genetic diversity and its evolutionary and clinical implications. Themes she is currently exploring in her laboratory include the identification of packaging signals, gene segment reassortment during coinfection, virus egress and infection in extracellular vesicles, and structural dynamics of the attachment protein during cell entry.  A long-term goal of the lab is to engineer dsRNA viruses to make better vaccines, therapeutics, and research tools.