Before graduate school, my research was focused on the study of immune responses in the gastrointestinal tract. Since my rotation in Dr. Chopra’s laboratory, I have been working on the identification of type III secretion system (T3SS) effector proteins from Aeromonas hydrophila and the biological characterization in host cells. Particularly, my research is focused in the study of AexU, a T3SS effector recently identified in this laboratory. The initial characterization of this effector protein revealed its ability to induce apoptosis and disrupt the actin cytoskeleton. My immediate goals include obtaining PhD degree and publishing the manuscripts related to my work during this training.