Laura is a postdoctoral fellow at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. Her research involves the application of a wide range of genomics analysis methods and models to study the evolution and genomic epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, with an overarching goal to discern the trends of genes related to their virulence and antimicrobial resistance. Her primary focus has been on K. pneumoniae, a bacterium that is typically acquired in hospitals and health care facilities, and responsible for a range of infections involving urinary, respiratory, and blood infections, as well as pneumonia and pyogenic liver abscess in immunosuppressed patients. Kelsiella is a huge concern due to its acquisition of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. Laura specialised in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics throughout her tertiary education, obtaining a Bachelor of Biology and then Master in Science in Universidad de Los Andes. Bogotá, Colombia, followed by a PhD in Bioinformatics in Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam, Germany.