Professor Cynthia Whitchurch is the Research Director of the Biofilm Biology cluster in the Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE). Her research aims to understand the contributions and interplay of alternative bacterial lifestyles to infection, persistence and antimicrobial resistance and to exploit this knowledge to develop innovative approaches to combat infection. Over the course of her career she has made a number of seminal discoveries in understanding how bacteria build biofilms, co-ordinate collective behaviours, share genetic information through natural transformation and the role of extracellular DNA in these processes. She also explores how bacteria survive antibiotic treatment by lifestyle switching. The outstanding quality of her research has been recognised through prestigious fellowships and awards including Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science.