Research Interest: Infectious gastroenteritis (IG) is a major cause of morbidity across the world. Vibrio cholerae is a Gram-negative enteric pathogen that causes IG. A vast consortium of bacteria resides in the human gut, collectively called the human gut microbiome. The presence or absence of specific microbiota members has been shown to limit IG, including IG caused by V. cholerae. Bacteria use a cell-cell communication system called as quorum-sensing that is used for both intra-species and inter-species communication. I aim to use a combination of anaerobic microbiology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry to understand how beneficial "probiotic" bacteria living in our intestine use quorum-sensing to defend the human host against infection by enteric pathogens.