Swenson shares science journey
February 11, 2025
Dakota State alumna Vaille Swenson has spent the last several years pursuing a Ph.D. in virology at Mayo Clinic’s Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
While Swenson initially chose DSU for its cybersecurity program, her lifelong interest in infectious diseases drew her back to the biological sciences and she changed majors. She graduated from DSU in 2019 as a Goldwater Scholar with a bachelor’s degree in biology and associate’s degree in software development.
As a biology student, Swenson appreciated the small student-to-faculty ratio and the ability to get involved in research early on in her academic career.
She worked on research projects with Dr. Dale Droge, professor emeritus, and two professors who have since left the university, Dr. Patrick Videau and Dr. Michael Gaylor.
One of those research projects led to a publication about using instant pots in a way similar to an autoclave.
“I was just trying to figure out if you can use a commercial pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot, in place of an autoclave for sterilizing different laboratory equipment,” Swenson explained.
She came up with the idea for the research project after receiving an Instant Pot for Christmas. “It was really cool to see a project from its very beginning all the way to the end in publication,” she said.
Swenson has a lot of happy memories of spending time with her friends and classmates in the biology lab, working on homework together, and doing experiments.
“It was a very family-like atmosphere where I felt like I had a lot of people to support me and to explore my love of science,” she said.
Her time at DSU helped her learn how to develop a balance between research, classwork, and other obligations. It also taught her to remain open to opportunities, which she recommends other DSU students do as well.
“Just remain open to the opportunities that fall into your lap, and don’t be afraid to look for more opportunities, especially if you are interested in pursuing research,” she said.
While working on her Ph.D., Swenson is still doing biomedical research focused on infectious viruses. She appreciates being surrounded by so many intelligent people and her program’s small student-to-faculty ratio.
She hopes to enter the field of bioinformatics in the future. “I’m really interested in applying my background in computer science from DSU to my knowledge of virology and biomedical research and combining those two moving forward,” she said.
Swenson returned to campus in December to give a talk about virology sponsored by the TriBeta Club.