Cornell Center for Antimicrobial Resistance Research & Education Spring Seminar Series 2025

Title: Host tropism and the pathobiology of Staphylococcus aureus infections

Speaker Bio: Dr. Torres grew up in Puerto Rico and received a bachelor’s degree in industrial microbiology from the University of Puerto Rico—Mayagüez campus. He completed his doctoral studies on the mechanism of action of the Helicobacter pylori vacuolating cytotoxin under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Cover at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. For his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Torres studied Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis under the tutelage of Dr. Eric Skaar, also at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in 2008 where he rose through the rank and became the C.V. Starr Professor of Microbiology and the Director of the Antimicrobial-Resistance Pathogens Program. In July 2023, Dr. Torres moved to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to become the Albert and Rosemary Joseph Endowed inaugural Chair of the new Department of Host-Microbe Interactions. Together with his team, Dr. Torres has contributed extensively to the field of S. aureus pathogenesis and toxin biology publishing over 150 scientific manuscripts.  Dr. Torres has also established a strong translational program in partnership with Janssen Biotech Inc. and Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, where together they have been developing novel agents to treat and prevent S. aureus infections. He also contributes extensively to the scientific community by serving as an editor for the American Society for Microbiology journals Infection and Immunity and mBio, an associate editor for the American Association for the Advancement of Science journal Science Advances, and as an advisor editor for Journal of Experimental Medicine. Dr. Torres has been awarded the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease fellowship, and he has been recognized as a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and as a MacArthur Fellow.