Dr. Abel-Santos obtained a bachelor's degree in chemistry in the Dominican Republic. He then trained in synthetic organic chemistry and bioorganic chemistry with professor George Gokel at Washington University Medical School. His interest in applying chemical techniques to biological problems got him to train in enzymology as a postdoctoral scholar with professor Stephen Benkovic at Penn State University. Since then he worked as an assistant professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and as an associate professor at UNLV. Although his training is in bioorganic chemistry and enzymology, he is continuously entering new fields as needed for his research. His laboratory has successfully merged organic chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, and more recently, animal model of disease. By applying quantitative approaches to microbiological problems, his team developed new techniques for evaluating mechanisms of Bacillus and Clostridium spore germination. They also used chemical probes to understand the binding sites of Ger receptors in spores. They have been working with bacterial spores for six years and have produced 12 papers in the area. The eclectic mixture of techniques used in the laboratory will be crucial to complete this project. It will allow them to successfully move from synthesis of bile salt analogs to screening for anti-germination compounds in vitro, to determining efficacy, stability, distribution, and toxicity of anti-germination compounds in an animal model of CDI.