Manolito G. Torralba

Manolito Torralba studied Biology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences. He started his scientific career in clinical microbiology and expanded his research interests working as a Research Associate II (RAII) at the J. Craig Venter Institute. With encouragement from his mentor, Dr Karen Nelson PhD along with his own interests in genomics research, he decided to pursue a doctoral degree at Catholic University while continuing to work as an RAII. Through the years of his doctoral program, he moved into a leadership role at JCVI and is currently the Laboratory Research and Development Manager.

Currently, Manolito is on track to successfully defend his research on novel virulence factors of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus in May of 2018. His other research interests include genomics approaches to studying microbial ecology and host-pathogen interactions in autoimmune diseases.