Dr. María Virginia Villegas

Dr. María Virginia Villegas is the scientific advisor of the division of bacterial resistance and nosocomial infections, which currently focuses on Antimicrobial Resistance in Gram-negative Bacteria, Hospital Infections and Antimicrobial Optimization Programs, at the Universidad El Bosque in Bogotá, Colombia.

She did her Internal Medicine training at the University del Valle (in Cali, Colombia), followed by a fellowship in Infectious Diseases at the University of Miami. She then obtained a master’s degree in Microbiology at the University del Valle. In 1999 she did a research fellow in Infectious Diseases, working on the epidemiology of multiresistant Acinetobacter at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, followed by a rotation in Dr John Quinn’s lab in Chicago, focusing on Bacterial resistance, especially ESBLs.

Her current research interests are nosocomial infections and the molecular epidemiology and mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance of the gram-negative bacilli as well as implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs in hospitals. She is an advisor to many hospitals ID committees in Colombia and has developed a successful national network of hospitals studying bacterial resistance, implementing prevention protocols in nosocomial infections and Antimicrobial Stewardship. Dr Villegas has several honor awards including named Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America given by the IDSA and the European Society of Infectious Diseases for her excellence in Infectious Diseases and related fields, a Recognition Award for Scientific Merit given by the Pan-American Society of Infectious Diseases ( API ), and Medal Recognition Award for a life of dedication, commitment and contribution to knowledge and development of medical research in She has published more than 120 articles and chapters.