Whooping cough, caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, is an extremely dangerous and potentially fatal disease for infants. We rarely see this disease anymore because everyone is routinely vaccinated against it with the DPT childhood vaccine. But there has lately been a resurgence in whooping cough cases, caused primarily by a reformulation of the vaccine to make it safer, which unfortunately also made it less protective against this disease. Dr. Rajendar Deora is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Wake Forest University. Dr. Deora’s research involves improving the whooping cough vaccine. Dr. Deora is studying how to improve this vaccine back to pre-reformulation levels of protection, without reducing its safety. Dr. Deora discusses vaccines, whooping cough, and his scientific career choice. Dr. Deora reminds everyone that “Vaccines Work!” Discussants (in alphabetical order): Dr. Neal Guentzel (Professor and Parliamentarian of STCEID, UTSA) Dr. Karl Klose (Professor and Director of STCEID, UTSA) Dr. Janakiram Seshu (Associate professor, STCEID, UTSA) microTalk is supported, in part, by the American Society for Microbiology. Visit asm.org to discover more microbiology resources and content.