Dr. Gomez-Simmonds’ research interests entail understanding the molecular factors that potentiate the acquisition and dissemination of multidrug resistance among hospital-associated pathogens. Her current projects focus on developing sequencing-based methods for investigating the epidemiology and transmission of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria at CUIMC such as carbapenem-resistant and ESBL-producing Enterobacterales. She is particularly interested in characterizing the repertoire of antibiotic resistance genes and associated mobile genetic elements in these pathogens. Additional research interests include identifying clinical risk factors and optimal therapeutic regimens for multidrug-resistant bacterial infections and investigating the clinical and microbiome factors associated with colonization and subsequent infection with hospital-associated pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile.