Dr. Bonilla is an Associate Professor of Biology at the University of San Diego. Her research program aims to understand the bacterial response to environmental and oxidative stress while engaging undergraduate students in research that answers basic scientific questions using molecular biology. She has two main research projects: to characterize the environmental stress cross-protection through, SigB; and to understand the molecular mechanisms of synthesis and regulation of the antioxidant Bacillithiol during oxidative and antibiotic stress.