The Phytopathology News newsletter, published by the American Phytopathological Society, featured PhD student Islam Hamim (PEPS) as its Grad Student Spotlight PhD student for the month of May 2019. Islam, who is getting his doctorate in tropical plant pathology, is mentored by John Hu. He describes his PhD project as focusing on molecular analysis of the papaya virome to facilitate an effective management model for viral diseases in papaya in Bangladesh. He’s interested in conducting translational studies on tropical plant viruses that address the short- and long-term needs of growers and producers. And his favorite plant disease, he says, is the Papaya Ringspot Virus. What’s yours?