Derek J. Platt, PhD, is a microbiologist and MD/PhD student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He is interested in studying host-microbe interactions and hopes to eventually run a laboratory that conducts research on microbial pathogenesis, immune responses to commensal and pathogenic microbes, autoimmunity, and the intersections of the aforementioned areas. Clinically, Derek plans to pursue a career in gastroenterology.

Derek’s most recent work includes the discovery of a previously uncharacterized role for intestinal bacterial species in modulating lung disease in a murine model of an ultra-rare, autoimmune and autoinflammatory syndrome. Previously, during the 2015 Zika virus outbreak in the Americas, Derek played a critical role in studies that helped the scientific community to better understand mechanisms of Zika virus pathogenesis. He additionally contributed to the development of Zika virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies, which are being used to improve the diagnosis and treatment of Zika virus infections. His efforts in the field of arbovirus research have led to co-authored publications in journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science Translational Medicine, in addition to being selected as a 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science honoree.

Derek received his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the Honors College at Tennessee State University, where he played football on an athletic scholarship and graduated summa cum laude. Aside from his academic endeavors, Derek is passionate about community empowerment, health equity, and addressing social issues through an anti-capitalist and abolitionist lens. In his free time, Derek is an avid traveler, food maker/taster, outdoor activity/sports enthusiast, soul music lover, and reader of African/African diaspora literature.

Derek was born in Jackson, TN and raised in an unincorporated agricultural community on its outskirts. He has deep ancestral roots in West TN/Central MS (maternal) and Gullah Geechee communities in Coastal NC/SC (paternal). On both sides, his family has lived for centuries just miles from where they were once enslaved. Derek takes pride in having descended from brilliant, innovative, and resilient formerly enslaved Africans. Having been raised in the rural South, Derek is passionate about improving access to high quality healthcare within rural areas, especially among Black people in the rural South.