UTSA Endowed and Named Chairs and Professorships   Profiles   Margaret Batts Tobin Distinguished Chair in Biotechnology
UTSA Endowed and Named Chairs and Professorships
José López-Ribot, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Margaret Batts Tobin Distinguished Chair in Biotechnology
The Margaret Batts Tobin Distinguished Chair in Biotechnology was established in 2005 by the Tobin Endowment in connection with the Margaret Batts Tobin Laboratory Building. The endowment was created to honor the late Mrs. Tobin, who was a University of Texas System Regent from 1947 to 1955 and whose family has made significant contributions to education in the state of Texas.

José López-Ribot, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

Margaret Batts Tobin Distinguished Chair in Biotechnology

Professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology

José L. López-Ribot is a professor of microbiology and the Margaret Batts Tobin Distinguished Chair in Biotechnology. He is also the associate director of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID). 

His laboratory studies fungal infections, with an emphasis on the opportunistic pathogenic fungus Candida albicans, the main causative agent of candidiasis affecting an increasing number of immune- and medically-compromised patients. Work in his laboratory encompasses from the basic biology of the cell wall, biofilm formation, adhesion and morphogenetic conversions, to the use of animal models to better understand virulence and host responses, to the more translational and clinical aspects such as antifungal drug development, drug resistance and vaccines; with the ultimate goal of devising new strategies for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of candidiasis. 

In 2016, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He is an author of more than 200 publications (over 18,000 citations) and several patents, and he has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, American Heart Association (AHA), different foundations and pharmaceutical companies. He has also provided extensive service to his discipline as a grant reviewer for NIH, AHA, National Science Foundation, Veteran’s Administration and many other different national and international funding agencies, as well as an associate editor, editorial board member and ad-hoc reviewer for multiple Microbiology and Mycology journals.  

A native of Spain, Lopez-Ribot is a pharmacist who transitioned into medical mycology research following receipt of his doctorate degree in microbiology and his Pharm.D. from the University of Valencia in Valencia, Spain, in 1991.