Her upbringing and training shaped this doctor's view of infections and vaccines
Dr. Priya Soni remembers the childhood hand-washing lessons her mother taught. She didn't just make Soni wash her hands before meals, or insist she clean up after playing outside.
Soni's mother, a microbiologist who ran her own lab, had her wash one hand and then put both in a petri dish to illustrate the difference good hygiene made in removing harmful germs.
"From a pretty young age, my mother made science come alive for me," said Soni, 38, now an assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. "She showed me how microbes shaped the world around me."
Her mother's lessons spawned Soni's interest in medicine and motivated her to become a doctor. She talks about her work in infectious diseases, including the measles, for " The Experts Say," an American Heart Association News series in which specialists explain how they apply their professional knowledge to their own lives. Her remarks have been edited.
Why did you decide to specialize in pediatrics and infectious diseases?
My journey into medicine started early. I grew up curious about the world of microbiology and infectious diseases and not so scared of it. But my interest in pediatrics came once I was in medical school. As a teen, I had spent all of my free time babysitting or teaching children about Hindu culture at my temple. I realized that children were a part of my life in every phase.
During my undergraduate...