Annali Flores
McNair Scholar 2023
- Major(s): Biology (Pre-Med)
- Classification: Senior
- Anticipated Graduation Date: Fall 2023
- Career Aspirations: After attaining a bachelor’s degree, Annali plans to take a year to strengthen her application for a physician’s assistant (PA) program. During that year, she will work in gaining patient care experience and more community service and volunteer hours.
“The best part of the McNair Scholars Program was the connections and friendships that we built. It was so helpful having the other Scholars to relate to in knowing that we were all going through this process together. Being a part of McNair also really helped me in keeping an open mind. If it wasn’t for McNair, I would have never considered applying to the various graduate programs that will help me on my career path!”- Annali Flores
“Biofilm Formation in Staphylococcus Aureus and its Effect on Antibiotic Sensitivity”
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Carolyn Bouma
Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are responsible for multiple types of bacterial infections ranging from mild symptoms to fatalities. Some notable infections caused by these two organisms include pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, infective endocarditis, and prosthetic device infections. Antibiotics are usually the best mode of treatment and can be administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or orally, depending on the severity or accessibility of the medication. However, with antibiotic resistance quickly spreading, there is a concern of antibiotic resistance among bacterial organisms, especially when microbial communities known as biofilms are formed. In comparison to their counterparts, planktonic bacteria, biofilms are much more resistant to antibiotics, and this has led to a tremendous increase in research to solve these issues. We used an in vitromodel to compare antibiotic sensitivity in S. aureus and P. aeruginosa using MIC/MBC tests and a biofilm formation assay to determine the MBIC and MBEC.