Tanvi grew up in Pune, India. She has a B.Sc. in Microbiology and an M.Sc. in Virology from the University of Pune. She completed her Ph.D. at Arizona State University in the U.S. under the mentorship of Dr. Anne Stone, where she gained expertise in recovering and analyzing pathogen genomes from highly degraded and archaeological samples. After graduating, Tanvi joined the University of Oklahoma as an Assistant Research Professor, where she expanded her research focus to include the human microbiome. During this time, she co-led a federally funded project investigating the evolution of the oral microbiome using samples from diverse human populations spanning thousands of years. In 2025, Tanvi joined the Avanzi Lab as a Bioinformatics Scientist where her research focuses on the transmission dynamics and evolutionary history of leprosy. Tanvi works remotely from the U.S., and apart from science, she loves traveling, catching up with friends, playing board games, and cooking.

Q. How many bands would you have if you were an armadillo?

A. 8