She was particularly interested in the cellular machinery needed to maintain cilia, and used small molecule chemical inhibitors to identify important features in ciliary transport.

Avasthi found that actin, a cytoskeleton protein, was required for intraflagellar transport (IFT) regulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

[8] In 2015 Avasthi started her own research group at the University of Kansas Medical Center, which is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

She launched New PI Slack, an online space for over a thousand new Principal investigators to share notes and ideas.

[13][14][15] In her laboratory she leads a preprint journal club, where members of her group read and review new material, providing feedback to authors.