Antibiotic resistance poses a serious threat to the ability to manage and treat bacterial diseases. 

“Antibiotic resistance among strains of Salmonella and Campylobacter is on the rise,” says Rebeca Galindo, a second-year doctoral student in epidemiology. 

Salmonella and Campylobacter are two common bacterial pathogens that cause diarrheal disease. “Worldwide, one in nine children die of diarrheal diseases every year,” Galindo says, “and 1.7 billion children are diagnosed with diarrheal diseases every year.” 

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, diarrheal disease is the second leading cause of death among children under the age of five.

Galindo is a Graduate Research Assistant at the State Hygienic Laboratory (SHL) under the direction of Dr. Michael Pentella. At SHL, Rebeca is part of a research project developing a rapid diagnostic test to accelerate identifying antibiotic resistance in Salmonella and Campylobacter. 

“Currently, testing to determine if antibiotics can be used to treat these specific pathogens can take a minimum of three to four days for Salmonella and six to eight days for Campylobacter, but it can sometimes take longer,” Galindo describes.

“I am working on research that takes that testing time down to under an hour."

Being able to rapidly and efficiently identify antibiotic resistance in these bacterial pathogens would allow medical practitioners to provide their patients with effective treatment.

“This new test will quickly provide results to the healthcare provider and to the patient, which will help them determine the appropriate course of treatment,” Dr. Pentella explains. “This rapid testing also provides the added benefit that a quick diagnosis can help prevent others from acquiring the infection from the patient.”

A passion for fighting infectious disease

Galindo never had doubts about what career path she wanted to pursue. “I've known I wanted to be an infectious disease epidemiologist since I was 12,” Galindo says. 

Galindo’s passion to fight infectious diseases was nurtured at her high school, a biomedical science magnet high school. “My high school teachers made me confident that not only was public health the right path for me, but that I was going to succeed in this field,” Galindo says.

When deciding where to attend graduate school, the University of Iowa was Galindo’s first choice. “The Infectious Disease Program here at the University of Iowa was extremely attractive to me,” Galindo says. “It was well-established, and they had an entire Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases.” 

Even though Iowa was far from Galindo’s home state of Texas, the university offered other perks. “I always joke that I came to watch Caitlin Clark play her senior year basketball,” Galindo says. As an IWBB fan, Galindo attended every home game her first year here.

Basketball aside, Galindo describes the impact of the interdisciplinary research opportunities within the College of Public Health (CPH). 

“I think that the College of Public Health (CPH) models what public health should be in the real world, and that is inherently interdisciplinary and collaborative.” 

“CPH wants you to succeed in any way possible,” Galindo says. “They want you to be innovative and do research and to change the world.”

Dr. Pentella highlights Rebeca’s drive in her work at the SHL. “I admire Rebeca’s curiosity and dedication to creating real-world solutions,” Dr. Pentella says. “She is a hard worker, evidenced by her work on three separate research projects under three different faculty mentors.”

Understanding regional public health challenges

While being far from home can come with difficulties, Galindo encourages prospective graduate students to expand their reach when searching for graduate programs. 

“Living in different places will make me a stronger and better public health practitioner and scientist. I’ve had experiences with rural communities, urban communities, people of color, and people from homogeneous populations. I think diversity of experience is important because the messaging that you would use for one population you wouldn't use for another.”

Working in Iowa has prompted Galindo to consider challenges specific to rural healthcare. “Moving to Iowa has given me a new perspective on what our healthcare system is in this country because rural health is unique.”

In the future, Galindo hopes to take her array of knowledge and apply it to working on various infectious diseases. “I love the idea of working in a hospital and taking care of the health of the hospital through studying bacteria and viruses,” Galindo says. 

The skills that Rebeca cultivates in her research during graduate school will support her work in the future. “Rebeca is skilled at handling complex data,” Dr. Pentella says. “I also admire her curiosity and critical thinking skills. She asks important questions that help guide and improve the research process.”

While fighting infectious disease remains her focus, Galindo believes that tackling antibiotic resistance will continue to be a pillar of her work.

“Addressing antibiotic resistance is going to be an ever present need in our community, especially as antibiotic resistant strains of different bacteria continue to propagate.” Galindo’s passion for fighting infectious diseases drives her research which could have lifesaving impacts.