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Dr. Monica C. Gestal completed her Ph.D. in A Coruna, Spain, where she focused on determining the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in Enterobacteriaceae. Specifically, she investigated the epidemiological and molecular features of the CTX-M beta-lactamases critical for the extended spectrum activity. She then moved to Nottingham, U.K., supported by Fundacion Barrie de la Maza and an Intra-European Marie Curie award, where she examined the mechanisms of quorum sensing. Her project focused on understanding the changes in signaling molecules caused by a small RNA naturally transferred from Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Shinorhizobium meliloti. She also worked on identifying natural compounds that block quorum sensing in P. aeruginosa through suppression of virulence factors. Next, she moved to Ecuador where she worked in the National Reference Laboratory of Antibiotic Resistance and the Zurita&Zurita Laboratories where she continued working on mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. From Ecuador, she moved to the University of Georgia, Athens, where she developed expertise in animal models and immunology, before beginning her own laboratory as an Assistant Professor of °®¶¹´«Ã½ and Immunology at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. As a PI of her laboratory, she seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms by which Bordetella spp., the causative agent of whooping cough, manipulates host immune responses.