Jesús Antonio Romo, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and part of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID). His research focuses on characterizing the contributions of fungal colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract during bacterial infections. Additional areas of interest include medical mycology, polymicrobial biofilms, the mycobiome and drug discovery and development.

Previously, he was an NIH IRACDA postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University School of Medicine in the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology in the laboratory of Carol A. Kumamoto, Ph.D., where he began investigating the effect of fungal colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract during infection by the bacterial pathogen Clostridioides difficile using in vitro, murine and cell culture models.

Romo received his Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from UTSA under the guidance of Jose L. Lopez-Ribot, Ph.D., studying the fungal pathobiont Candida albicans and its ability to form biofilms. Romo’s passions include research, teaching, outreach and science communication. He has also dedicated his entire career to supporting scientists from historically marginalized communities in and out of the laboratory.