Dr Ruth Thornton is a Passe and Williams Mid-Career Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and co-Lead of the Bacterial Respiratory Infectious Disease Group at the Telethon Kids Institute. Her research interests lie in understanding the interactions between bacteria and the host in chronic and recurrent respiratory infections including ear, nose and throat infections, and chronic lung disease. Her findings have directly translated into 2 clinical trials investigating the safety and effectiveness of using an anti-biofilm agent to treat recurrent and chronic otitis media.