About the PIs

Dr. José A. Lemos obtained his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. He did postdoctoral training at the University of Rochester and the University of Florida when he became interested in studying the stress response mechanisms of low-GC Gram-positive bacteria. He started his academic career as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Oral Biology at the University of Florida. In 2007, he joined the faculty of the University of Rochester in the Department of Oral Biology. In 2015, he returned to the University of Florida where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Oral Biology. His laboratory investigates the stress survival mechanisms of Gram-positive pathogens with a particular focus on the dental pathogen Streptococcus mutans and the nosocomial pathogen Enterococcus faecalis.

Dr. Jacqueline Abranches obtained her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. She did her post-doctoral training at University of Rochester and University of Florida. In 2007, she became a Research Associate Professor and, along with Dr. Jose Lemos, established the Lemos-Abranches Research Group whose research interests involve microbe-microbe and host-pathogen interactions, and microbial physiology and pathogenesis. In 2014, she became a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. In 2015, the Lemos-Abranches research group relocated to the University of Florida. Dr. Abranches’ main research interests involve host-pathogen and microbe-microbe interactions, clinical translational-studies, molecular microbiology and microbial physiology.