Gretel Torres

Gretel Torres, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisor

Gretel Torres, PhD is a Scientific Advisor who supports biotechnology and life-science patent prosecution, including drafting patent applications, conducting prior art and patentability analyses, and providing technical insight across a wide range of molecular and biomedical technologies. Her scientific expertise includes molecular immunology, structural virology, vaccine antigen design, and therapeutic discovery, with experience spanning biologics, immunotherapies, virus-like particle platforms, and structure-guided antigen engineering.

Gretel joined the firm in 2025 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, where she applied cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography to identify and engineer viral protein targets for next-generation vaccines and antiviral therapeutics. She earned her PhD in Microbiology & Immunology from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, where she investigated macrophage reprogramming and tumor microenvironment remodeling in Braf V600E melanoma, contributing to multiple peer-reviewed publications in tumor immunology and therapeutic development.

Gretel’s scientific background spans structural biology, innate and adaptive immune regulation, viral antigen engineering, and rational vaccine design. Her work includes structural analyses of coronavirus spike proteins and single-domain antibody interactions; evaluation of RSV vaccine candidates using virus-like particle platforms; and studies of immunomodulatory triterpenoids in melanoma and breast cancer models. During her graduate training, she received the AAI Careers in Immunology Fellowship, an award recognizing early-career scientists for both their demonstrated research contributions and their potential for future impact in the field. Her research experience encompasses high-resolution structural techniques, macrophage functional assays, viral protein engineering, and translational immunology.

Areas of Concentration

  • Vaccine and antiviral therapeutic design
  • Structural virology and viral protein engineering
  • Immunotherapy and tumor microenvironment modulation
  • Biologics, antibodies, and protein–antigen interactions
  • Molecular and cellular immunology
  • Virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine platforms

Publications

  • Abel, T. R., Kosarek, N. N., Parvizi, R., Jarnagin, H., Torres, G. M., Bhandari, R., Huang, M., Toledo, D. M., Smith, A., Popovich, D., Mariani, M. P., Yang, H., Wood, T., Garlick, J., Pioli, P. A., & Whitfield, M. L. (2024). Single-cell epigenomic dysregulation of Systemic Sclerosis fibroblasts via CREB1/EGR1 axis in self-assembled human skin equivalents. bioRxiv.
  • Maslanka, J., Torres, G., Londregan, J., Goldman, N., Silberman, D., Somerville, J., & Riggs, J. E. (2024). Loss of B1 and marginal zone B cells during ovarian cancer. Cellular Immunology, 395, 104788.
  • Torres, G. M., Jarnagin, H. C., Park, C., Yang, H., Kosarek, N. N., Bhandari, R., Wang, C. Y., Kolling, F. W., Whitfield, M. L., Turk, M. J., Liby, K. T., & Pioli, P. A. (2023). CDDO-Methyl Ester Inhibits BRAF Inhibitor Resistance and Remodels the Myeloid Compartment in BRAF-mutant Melanoma. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.08.01.551524
  • Torres, G., Yang, H., Chanhyuk, P., Spezza, P., Khatwani, N., Bhandari, R., Liby, L., & Pioli, P. (2022). T cell and CDDO-Me Attenuate Immunosuppressive Activation of Melanoma-Conditioned Macrophages. Frontiers in Immunology, 13.
  • Wrapp, D., DeVlieger, D., Corbett, K., Torres, G., Van Breedam, W., Roose, K., van Schie, L., VIB-CMB COVID-19 Response Team, Hoffman, M., Pöhlman, S., Graham, B., Callewaert, N., Schepens, B., Saelens, X., & McLellan, J. (2020). Structural Basis for Potent Neutralization of Betacoronaviruses by Single-domain Camelid Antibodies. Cell, 181.
  • Ball, M., Bhandari, R., Torres, G., Martyanov, V., ElTanbouly, M., Archambault, K., Whitfield, M., Liby, K., & Pioli, P. (2020). CDDO-Me Alters the Tumor Microenvironment in Estrogen Receptor Negative Breast Cancer. Scientific Reports, 10.
  • Cullen, L., Schmidt, M., Torres, G., Capoferri, A., & Morrison, T. (2019). Comparison of Immune Responses to Different Versions of VLP-Associated Stabilized RSV Pre-Fusion F Protein. Vaccines, 7.
  • Shabaneh, T., Molodtsov, A., Steinberg, S., Zhang, P., Torres, G., Mohamed, G., Boni, A., Curiel, T., Angeles, C., & Turk, M. J. (2018). Oncogenic BRAFV600E Governs Regulatory T Cell Recruitment During Melanoma Tumorigenesis. Cancer Research, 78.

Education

  • 2022 – Ph.D., Microbiology & Immunology, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH
  • 2017 – B.S., Biology, Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

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