She was director of international programs at the University of Rochester Medical Center where she was a professor of microbiology and immunology.
From 1995 to 1998 she was the vice provost for research and graduate education, and the first female to hold this position.
She discovered that a type I quorum sensing system globally regulated virulence in a human pathogen.
[5] Her work with Peter Greenberg demonstrated that gram-negative bacteria produce AHL signals that control processes such as biofilm formation in neighbouring cells of the same species.
[6] From 2007, she studied the regulation of proteases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with a focus on biofilm development and virulence,[5] with the support of a MERIT Award from the NIH.
In 1987, Iglewski was made an Honorary Lifetime Member of Graduate Women in Science, formerly Sigma Delta Epsilon, for research in microbiology and immunology.