Bonnie L. Bassler, Squibb Professor of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, will discuss how bacteria communicate through a process called quorum sensing, which enables them to successfully infect and cause disease in plants, animals, and humans. Investigations of the molecular mechanisms underlying quorum sensing are leading to the development of novel strategies to interfere with quorum sensing. These strategies form the basis of new therapies to be used as antibiotics. This medical forum begins at 9:30 a.m. in Sidney E. Frank Hall for Life Sciences, Nathan Marcuvitz Auditorium, Room 220. http://www.brown.edu/web/commencement/2011/content/forums.html