Victor J. Torres, Ph.D., received his B.S. degree in industrial microbiology in 2000 from the University of Puerto Rico. He then moved to the U.S. and received a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in 2004. Torres completed his postdoctoral training, also at Vanderbilt, in 2008. During his pre- and postdoctoral training, he received several fellowships and awards, including NIH-NRSA fellowships, the Collier Award for Outstanding Research at the Gordon Conference on Microbial Toxins and Pathogenicity and the Sidney P. Colowick Award for outstanding research achievements in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt. In 2008, Torres joined the faculty in the Department of Microbiology at NYU School of Medicine, where he is currently an assistant professor.

Torres' research program combines techniques from bacteriology, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology and immunology to ascertain how bacteria subvert host defenses. His current research focuses on how S. aureus adapts to environments encountered in the host to manipulate the immune system and promote infection. He has co-authored more than 40 scientific publications and is an ASM member.