Specialization
Microbial Genomics, Bioinformatics, Molecular biology, Microbiology
Focus of research
I study the zoonotic pathogen Streptococcus suis. It is a gram positive bacterium virtually ubiqutuous in the porcine population. Being a streptococcal bacteria, it shows very high genomic diversity. However, only a few genomic profile appear to be capable of causing systemic infections in humans.
My research focuses on using whole genome sequencing data to identify evolutionary events that have led certain S. suis lineages to acquire zoonotic potential. Moreover, I validate potential zoonotic factors in models of humans infections in the lab.