Aragaw Lab

Wassihun Wedajo Aragaw, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Member, Center for Discovery and Innovation

Dr. Aragaw is a molecular microbiologist specializing in antibacterial drug discovery. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the National University of Singapore under the mentorship of Professor Thomas Dick, where he worked on the discovery and mechanistic characterization of novel inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR). Prior to his Ph.D., Dr. Aragaw completed an M.Sc. in Applied Genetics at Addis Ababa University and served as an instructor at Jimma University, Ethiopia. In 2019, he joined CDI as a postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Professors Thomas Dick and Véronique Dartois, where he has led several interdisciplinary, early-stage drug discovery projects targeting nontuberculous mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium abscessus. Dr. Aragaw's work spans the full spectrum of early drug discovery: from whole-cell screening and target identification to mechanism-of-action studies, resistance profiling, and in vivo efficacy evaluation in animal models of lung infection. His contributions have resulted in publications in leading journals and continues to support the development of novel antimicrobial therapies.