A Malaysia native, Dr. Kalai Mathee is a dedicated and demanding professor who has received utmost praise from her students and mentees. She received a B.S. in Genetics and M.S. in Microbial Genetics from the University of Malaya and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Tennessee—Memphis under the tutelage of Dr. Martha Howe. She is well-respected in her field, receiving the Mentor of the Year Award in 2011, alongside the highest honor for faculty at FIU, the President's Council Worlds Ahead Faculty Award. Additionally, Dr. Mathee has distinguished herself by receiving a Passion in Science award from New England BioLabs in 2014. Dr. Mathee currently researches Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence mechanisms as Editor of the Journal of Medical Microbiology, and Director of the Global Health Consortium at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University.