Jose A Lemos, PhD

José A. Lemos obtained his Ph.D. (Microbiology and Immunology) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 2000. He did postdoctoral research at the University of Rochester and later at the University of Florida. In 2003, he was promoted to 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 Center of Oral Biology and Department of Microbiology and Immunology. In 2015, he returned to the University of Florida College of Dentistry as part of the Preeminance hire initiative where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Oral Biology. His laboratory investigates the stress survival mechanisms of Firmicutes with a particular focus on S. mutans and Enterococcus faecalis.

My Laboratory investigates the molecular factors that mediate virulence in the opportunistic Gram-positive pathogens Streptococcus mutans and Enterococcus faecalis. S. mutans is a major pathogen in dental caries and a leading causative agent of infective endocarditis. In S. mutans, our current efforts focus on the characterization of the oxidative stress regulator Spx, and its role in controlling stress responses and biofilm formation. The second S. mutans project focuses on the characterization of a collagen binding protein responsible for intracellular invasion of heart and oral tissues, a trait that is linked to increased virulence and, potentially, recurrent infection and chronic inflammation. The characterization of stress responses is also the theme of our research with E. faecalis, a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. In this project, we are investigating the interplay between regulatory nucleotides (i.e., ppGpp, c-di-AMP) with other prominent stress regulators and how these interactions influence the ability of E. faecalis to survive antibiotic stress and other adverse conditions.