Dr Laura Oliveira, PhD in Microbiology, is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro by the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN) Fellowship. Dr Laura has been involved in research projects focused on the characterization of gram-positive cocci, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Staphylococcus aureus, recovered from human and animal sources, regarding capsular typing, molecular typing, antimicrobial resistance and virulence potential. She has experience in the field of microbiology, with emphasis on bacteriology and molecular epidemiology, and expertise in several molecular biology methods, including genome sequencing, multi-locus sequence typing, and matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS) for identification and strain-typing of microbial pathogens. The main goal of her research is to improve the diagnosis and the control and preventive measures of infectious diseases in the human and veterinary medicine settings. Dr Laura has been awarded with 10 national and international awards, being the most important the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN) Fellowship for women postdoctoral researchers from low-and-middle income countries (LMICs). Dr Laura has served as a volunteer for the American Society for Microbiology since 2017. She is former president of ASM International Student Chapter at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2017-2019), ASM Young Ambassador of Science to Brazil (202-2022), and Chair of the ASM Young Leaders Circle (2020-2021). She has also been involved in science communication and outreach initiatives in Brazil, including the science communication project DivulgaMicro and the Brazilian editions of Pint of Science and Soapbox Science festivals, and the Smithsonian’s exhibit Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World DiY (Do-It-Yourself).