In this lecture, Victor Torres will discuss his studies exploring the species specificity of Staphylococcus aureus toxins and how they have taken advantage of millions of years of evolution in vertebrates to define the molecular details of toxin-receptor interaction.  Moreover, he will highlight how by combining evolutionary studies with biochemical, cellular biology and gene-editing, they have generated a new murine model to facilitate studies of species-specific host-pathogen interactions.

Victor Torres performed his doctoral studies in Microbiology and Immunology under the supervision of Professor Timothy Cover at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship on Staphylococcus aureus pathogenesis under the tutelage of Professor Eric P. Skaar, also at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Victor Torres joined the faculty of the Department of Microbiology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine as an assistant professor in 2008. He is currently the C.V. Starr Endowed Professor of Microbiology. Victor Torres has contributed extensively to the fields of S. aureus pathogenesis and toxin biology. His group has published over 100 scientific manuscripts and has generated a portfolio of patents and patent applications describing targets for the generation of novel anti-S. aureus drugs. In addition to his responsibilities at the University, Torres is a permanent member of the NIH Bacterial Pathogenesis Study Section national grant review panel and serves as ad hoc reviewer for many other national and international funding agencies. In addition to serving as reviewer to many journals, he is an editor for the American Society for Microbiology Journals Infection and Immunity and mBio, and an associate editor for the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journal Science Advances.

Moderation: Professor Dr. Barbara M. Bröker