Tasha M. Santiago-Rodríguez, Ph.D.
California Polytechnic State University
Biology Department and Center for Applications in Biotechnology
San Luis Obispo, CA, USA 93405
Email: tasantia@calpoly.edu; tsantiagoro@gmail.com
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Education
Doctor of Philosophy in Biology, emphasis in Environmental
2008-2013
Microbiology/Public Health Water Microbiology.
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras. Dissertation title:
“Characterization of Enterococcus faecalis-infecting phages as markers
of human fecal pollution and as reservoirs of antibiotic-resistance and
virulence genes”. Advisor: Gary A. Toranzos.
2003-2007
Professional experience
2015-present
2013-2015
Bachelor of Science in Biology (Magna Cum Laude) University of
Puerto Rico, Cayey.
Postdoctoral fellow Life Science Research Foundation. California
Polytechnic State University (Host Institution). Project: Microbiome
characterization of ancient human samples. Advisor: Raul J. Cano.
Postdoctoral researcher. Department of Pathology, School of
Medicine. University of California, San Diego. Projects: (i)
Transcriptome of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
bacteriophages in the human bloodstream, (ii) Transcriptome of
viromes in periodontal health and disease, (iii) Microbiome and virome
in association with urinary tract infections, (iv) Short and long-term
effect of antibiotics in human viral communities, (v) Effect of high-fat
diet in gut viromes. Advisor: David T. Pride.
2013-present
Reviewer. PLosOne, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Water
Research, Journal of Marine Science: Research and Development;
Aquaculture Research.
2011
Mentor. First year graduate students' mentor. Alliance for Graduate
Education and the Professoriate (AGEP).
2009
Water Specialist Laboratory Technician. Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA) and WESTAT. Detection of microbial indicators in tropical
recreational waters and sand by culture and molecular methods.
2005
Undergraduate research assistant. University of Medicine and Dentistry of
New Jersey, NJ. Project: Optimization of methods for the visualization of
proteins expressed during cardiac valve development in mice.
Teaching experience
2008-2010
Graduate teaching assistant. Independent teaching of General
Biology Laboratory I and II, University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Campus.
Fellowships/Awards
2015-present
2010-2013
Specialized
training/education
Fall 2014
Life Science Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award
Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (MBRS-RISE)
fellowship.
Teaching Methods in Public Health. Center for the Integration of
Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) Network. University of
California, San Diego.
Research Publications
Published
Natasha Bonilla, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos, Miguel Urdaneta, Jorge
Santo-Domingo and Gary Toranzos. 2010. Enterophages, a group of phages infecting
Enterococcus faecalis and their potential as alternate indicators of human fecal
contamination. Water Sci Technol. 61, 293-300.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodríguez, Catalina Dávila, Joel González, Natasha Bonilla, Patricia
Marcos, Miguel Urdaneta, Manuela Cadete, Silvia Monteiro, Ricardo Santos, Jorge SantoDomingo and Gary Toranzos. 2010. Characterization of Enterococcus faecalis-infecting
phages (enterophages) as markers of human fecal pollution in recreational waters. Water
Research. 44(16), 4716-4725.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Raymond L. Tremblay, Carlos Toledo-Hernandez, Joel
E.Gonzalez-Nieves, Hodon Ryu, Jorge W. Santo-Domingo and Gary A. Toranzos. 2012.
Microbial quality of tropical inland waters and effects of rainfall events. Applied and
Environmental Microbiology. 78(15), 5160-5169.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos, Silvia Cadete, Miguel Urdaneta Ricardo
Santos and Gary A. Toranzos. 2013. Evaluation of Enterococcus-infecting phages as
indeces of fecal pollution. Journal of Water and Health. 11(1), 51-63.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Jessica I. Rivera, Mariel Coradin and Gary Toranzos.
2013. Antibiotic-resistance and virulence genes in Enterococcus isolated from tropical
recreational waters. Journal of Water and Health 11(3), 387-396.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Yvonne M. Narganes-Storde, Edwin Crespo-Torres, Rafael
Jimenez-Flores, Gary A. Toranzos, Alice Hamrick and Raul J. Cano. 2013. Microbial
communities in pre-Columbian coprolites. PLosOne 8(6): e65191.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos, Paul Bayman, Steven E. Massey and
Raul J. Cano. 2013. Sociomicrobiome of tropical decaying wood in a rain forest: unraveling
complexity. Springer Plus 2:435.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Ana R. Patricio, Jessica I. Rivera, Mariel Coradin, Alfredo
Gonzalez, Gabriela Tirado, Raul J. Cano and Gary A. Toranzos. 2013. luxS in bacteria
isolated from 25 to 40 million year-old amber. FEMS Microbiology Letters 350(1), 117124. **Chief Editor choice**
Elia E. Sánchez-Nazario, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and Gary A. Toranzos. 2013.
Prospective epidemiological study on the morbidity of bathers exposed to tropical
recreational waters and sand. Journal of Water and Health 12(2), 220-229.
Raul J. Cano, Gary A. Toranzos, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Ana R. Patricio and
Jessica I. Rivera. 2014. Data on ancient microorganisms causes skepticism. Response to
Letter to Editor: Was luxS really isolated from ancient bacteria? FEMS Microbiology
Letters 353(2), 87-88.
Melissa Ly , Shira R. Abeles , Tobias Boehm , Refugio Robles-Sikisaka , Mayuri Naidu ,
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and David. T. Pride. 2014. Altered oral viral ecology in
association with periodontal disease. MBio 5(3), 1-13.
Raul J Cano, Jessica Rivera-Perez, Gary A Toranzos, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez,
Yvonne Narganes-Storde, Luis Chanlatte-Baik, Erileen X Garcia-Roldan and Steven E
Massey. 2014. Paleomicrobiology: Revealing Fecal Microbiomes of Ancient Indigenous
Cultures. PLosOne 9(9): e106833.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Melissa Ly, Natasha Bonilla and David T. Pride. 2015. The
human urinary virome in association with urinary tract infections. Frontiers in Microbiology
6(14).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mayuri Naidu, Marcus B. Jones, Melissa Ly and David T.
Pride. 2015. Identification of staphylococcal phage with reduced transcription in human
blood through transcriptome sequencing. Frontiers in Microbiology 6(216).
Anna Edlund, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Tobias K. Boehm, and David T. Pride. 2015.
Bacteriophage and their potential roles in the human oral cavity. Journal of Oral
Microbiology 7.
Andrew G. Lum, Melissa Ly, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mayuri Naidu, Tobias K.
Boehm, and David T. Pride. 2015. Global transcription of CRISPR loci in the human oral
cavity. BMC Genomics 16(401).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mayuri Naidu, Shira R. Abeles, Tobias K. Boehm, Melissa
Ly and David T. Pride. 2015. Transcriptome analysis of bacteriophage communities in
periodontal health and disease. BMC Genomics 16(549).
Shira R Abeles, Melissa Ly, Tasha M Santiago-Rodriguez amd David T Pride. Effects of
long term antibiotic therapy on human oral and fecal viromes (Accepted PlosOne).
In process
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos and Javier A. Arce-Nazario. Impact of
urbanization and rainfall in the microbial quality of tropical watersheds. (Under review
Journal of Water and Health).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos, Paul Bayman, Steven E. Massey and
Raul J. Cano. Association of the global mobilome with taxonomic and metabolic functions
in differing environments (Under review Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Food
Sciences).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Melissa Ly, Michelle C. Daigneault, Ian H. L. Brown, Julie
A. K. McDonald, Natasha Bonilla, Emma Allen Vercoe and David T. Pride. 2015. Cultured
fecal viral communities approximate those found in humans (Under review mBio).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gino Fornaciari, Stefania Luciani, Scot E. Dowd, Gary A.
Toranzos, Isolina Marota and Raul J. Cano. Gut microbiome of an 11th century A.D. preColumbian Andean Mummy (Under review PlosOne).
Gisela Hernández-Rivera, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and Gary A. Toranzos.
Coliphages as indicators of the efficiency of wastewater treatment by constructed wetlands
(To be submitted Journal of Water and Health).
Book chapters
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Julie Kinzelman and Gary A. Toranzos. Current and
developing methods for the detection of microbial indicators in environmental freshwaters
and drinking waters. In Manual of Environmental Microbiology, 4th Edition. G. A.
Toranzos, ed. ASM Press, Washington, D.C. (Accepted).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and R. J. Cano. 2014. Microbial Forensics of Soils. In
Environmental Microbial Forensics. Cano, R. J. and G. A. Toranzos, eds. ASM Press,
Washington D.C. (Under review).
Jessica I. Rivera, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos and Raul J. Cano.
Paleomicrobiology: a snapshot of ancient microbes. In Environmental Microbial Forensics
Cano, R. J. and G. A. Toranzos, eds. ASM Press, Washington D.C. (Under review).
Oral presentations
Natasha Bonilla, Catalina Davila, Janice Cuevas, Patricia Marcos, Jorge Rosado, Miguel
Urdaneta, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and Gary A. Toranzos. Prevalence of
enterophages as indicators of fecal water contamination in sewage and tropical waters, 15th
Health-related water microbiology symposium, Naxos, Greece, 2009. (Voted best
presentation).
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos, Carlos Toledo, Miguel Urdaneta and Gary
Toranzos. Human and chicken-specific Enterococcus phages: their prevalence and survival,
10th Great Lakes Beaches Association Meeting, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, 2010.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Carlos Toledo-Hernandez, Joel E. Gonzalez-Nieves,
Hodon Ryu, Jorge W. Santo-Domingo and Gary A. Toranzos. Assessing the microbiological
quality of a large Puerto Rican watershed using various microbial source tracking methods.
16th Health-Related Water Microbiology Symposium, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2011.
Mariel Coradin, Jessica I. Rivera, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Jean M. Carrasquillo and
Gary A. Toranzos. Survey of methicillin-resistant Enterococcus spp and mecA in tropical
environments. 32nd Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting, 47th Junior Technical
Meeting. University of Puerto Rico at Carolina, Puerto Rico, USA, 2012.
Raul J. Cano, Tasha Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos and Steven E. Massey.
Metagenomics and Metametabolomics of Decaying Wood: A Comparative Study. SIMB
Annual Exhibition and Meeting. San Diego, California, USA, 2013.
Poster presentations at local meetings
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Natasha Bonilla, Miguel Urdaneta and Gary Toranzos.
Enterococcus faecalis infecting phages (enterophages) as microbial indicators of wate
contamination. 28th Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting and 43th Junior
Technical Meeting, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2008.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Natasha Bonilla, Patricia Marcos and Gary Toranzos.
Survival of enterophages in marine waters. American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS), University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2009 and Puerto Rico Society of
Microbiology (PRSM), University of Puerto Rico, Humacao, 2010.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Carlos Toledo, Catalina Davila, Joel González, Natasha
Bonilla, Patricia Marcos, Gwendolyn Arguello, Miguel Urdaneta, Silvia Monteiro, Manuela
Cadete, Ricardo Santos and Gary Toranzos. A new group of phages specific for
Enterococcus faecalis: their ecology and prevalence in the environment. PRMS Semiannual
Convention, University of Puerto Rico, 2009.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos and Gary Toranzos. Host specificity of
Enterococcus-infecting bacteriophages. 31th Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific
Meeting, 46th Junior Technical Meeting, Interamerican University at Bayamon, Puerto Rico,
USA, 2011.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Jessica I. Rivera, Mariel Coradin, Jean M. Carrasquillo and
Gary A. Toranzos. Antibiotic-resistance and virulence-encoding genes in the environment.
32nd Puerto Rico Interdisciplinary Scientific Meeting, 47th Junior Technical Meeting.
University of Puerto Rico at Carolina, Puerto Rico, USA, 2012, RISE Conference Area,
University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, USA, 2012.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Ana R. Patricio-Caldas, Mariel Coradin, Alfredo González,
Jessica I. Rivera, Gabriela Tirado, Raul J. Cano and Gary A. Toranzos. Bacterial
communication may be Millions of Years Old. RISE Conference Area. San Juan, Puerto
Rico, USA, 2013.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mayuri Naidu, Marcus B. Jones, Melissa Ly, Geeta Ram,
Richard Novick, and David T. Pride. Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus gene expression profiles reveals specific adaptations to life in the
human bloodstream. Postdoctoral Research Symposium. University of California, San
Diego, USA, 2013.
Poster presentations at international meetings
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Natasha Bonilla, Miguel Urdaneta and Gary Toranzos.
Enterococcus faecalis infecting phages (enterophages) as microbial indicators of water
contamination. 15th Health-related water Microbiology Symposium, Naxos, Greece, 2009.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Carlos Toledo, Catalina Davila, Joel González, Natasha
Bonilla, Patricia Marcos, Gwendolyn Arguello, Miguel Urdaneta, Silvia Monteiro, Manuela
Cadete, Ricardo Santos and Gary Toranzos. A new group of phages specific for
Enterococcus faecalis: their ecology and prevalence in the environment. ABRCMS, 2009
and Viruses of Microbes, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France, 2010.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos and Gary Toranzos. Prevalence and
survival of Enterococcus phages in a large watershed in Puerto Rico. 111th American
Society of Microbiology (ASM) meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2011.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Patricia Marcos, Miguel Urdaneta and Gary Toranzos.
Evaluation of Enterococcus-infecting phages as indeces of fecal pollution. 16th HealthRelated Water Microbiology Symposium, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2011.
D. Cimochowska, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Silvia Monteiro, Gary A. Toranzos and
Ricardo Santos. Potential usefulness of enterophages as an indicator of faecal pollution. 16th
Health-Related Water Microbiology Symposium, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2011.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Miguel Urdaneta and Gary Toranzos. Detection of
integrase-encoding genes specific for Enterococcus faecalis-infecting phages. 112th
American Society of Microbiology (ASM) meeting, San Francisco, California, USA, 2012.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Jessica I. Rivera, Mariel Coradin, Jean M. Carrasquillo and
Gary A. Toranzos. Antibiotic-resistance and virulence-encoding genes in the environment.
112thAmerican Society of Microbiology (ASM) meeting, San Francisco, California, USA,
2012.
Jessica Rivera, Natasha Bonilla, Jean Carrasquillo, Mariel Coradin, Tasha M. SantiagoRodríguez, Marylin Roberts and Gary A. Toranzos. Prevalence of Methicillin-resistance
genes and Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in tropical recreational waters and
sewage. 16th Health-Related Water Microbiology Symposium, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2011
and 112th American Society of Microbiology (ASM) meeting, San Francisco, California,
USA, 2012.
Tasha M. Santiago Rodriguez, Miguel Urdaneta, Raul Cano and Gary A. Toranzos.
Bacteriophage integrases in the environment: a way to determine possible risks to health?
3rd Food and Environmental Virology. Lisbon, Portugal, 2012.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Ana R. Patricio, Alfredo Gonzalez, Mariel Coradin, Jessica
Rivera, Gabriela Tirado, Raúl J. Cano and Gary A. Toranzos. luxS in bacteria isolated from
amber: an ancient mechanism of quorum-sensing? 113th American Society of Microbiology
(ASM) Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA, 2013.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Yvonne M. Narganes-Storde, Edwin Crespo-Torres, Gary
A. Toranzos, Rafael Jimenez-Flores, Alice Hamrick and Raul J. Cano. Predecessors of the
Taino Indians in Puerto Rico: A Microbiological Perspective from the Study of Human
Coprolites. 113th American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, Denver, Colorado,
USA, 2013.
Jessica I. Rivera, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mariel Coradin, Marylin Roberts and
Gary A. Toranzos. Novel reservoirs for mecA: conferring methicillin-resistance in tropical
marine and fresh water environments. 113th American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA, 2013.
Mercedes Iriarte, Dashari Colón, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mariel Coradin, Andrea
Veizaga, Wilber Hinojosa, Cesar A. Perez, José Soto-Santiago, Jessica I. Rivera, Raúl J.
Cano, and Gary A. Toranzos. Archeal and Bacterial Diversity in salt flats in Bolivia and
Puerto Rico. 113th American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, Denver, Colorado,
USA, 2013.
Benjamin Mercado, Isis J. López Quintero, Jessica I. Rivera-Perez, Mario Cerón, Jessica
Rosario, A. Erazo, Gerty Pierre, D. Derilus, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Alfredo
González, Liby Barceló and Gary A. Toranzos.Escherichia coli diversity in the human gut
and tetracycline resistance reservoirs. 113th American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
Meeting, Denver, Colorado, USA, 2013.
Jessica I. Rivera-Pérez, Yvonne M. Narganes-Storde, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Luis
Chanlatte, Edwin Crespo-Torres, Rafael Jimenez-Flores, Alice Hamrick, Gary A. Toranzos,
and Raul J. Cano. Analysis of Coprolite Microbiota: How Long Can Fecal Contamination
Last? 17th Health-Related Water Microbiology Symposium. Florianopolis, Brazil, 2013.
Elia E. Sanchez-Nazario, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez and Gary A. Toranzos.
Prospective epidemiological study of the morbidity of bathers exposed to tropical
recreational waters and sand with point- and non-point sources of fecal contamination. 17th
Health-Related Water Microbiology Symposium. Florianopolis, Brazil, 2013.
Isis J. López Quintero, Benjamin Mercado, Jessica I. Rivera-Perez, Mario Cerón, Jessica
Rosario, A. Erazo, G. Pierre, D. Derilus, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Alfredo
González, Liby Barceló and Gary A. Toranzos. Contradictions with using 16S rRNA as an
indicator of genomic diversity in antibiotic-resistant E.coli strains. 17th Health-Related
Water Microbiology Symposium. Florianopolis, Brazil, 2013.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Mayuri Naidu, Marcus B. Jones, Melissa Ly and David T.
Pride. Characterization of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus gene expression
profiles reveals specific adaptations to life in the human bloodstream. 114th American
Society of Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2014.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Gary A. Toranzos, Paul Bayman, Steven E. Massey and
Raul J. Cano. Meta-mobilome reveals shared and unique functions across differing
ecosystems. 114th American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA, 2014.
Raul J Cano, Jessica Rivera-Perez, Gary A Toranzos, Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez,
Yvonne Narganes-Storde, Luis Chanlatte-Baik, Erileen X Garcia-Roldan and Steven E
Massey. Paleomicrobiology: Revealing Fecal Microbiomes of Ancient Indigenous Cultures.
114th American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, USA,
2014.
Jessica I Rivera-Perez, Gary A. Toranzos, Yvonne M. Narganes-Storde, Luis Chanlatte,
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez, Steven E. Massey, Raul J. Cano. Paleovirology Reveals
Diets of Pre-Colombian Indigenous Cultures in Puerto Rico. 115th American Society of
Microbiology (ASM) Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2015.
Invited presentations
Gary A. Toranzos and Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez. 2012. Real-time detection of
pathogens in water. Singapore International Water Week. Singapore.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez. 2012. Bacteriophages, bacterial communication, ancient
DNA and…my experience as a graduate student. University of Puerto Rico at Bayamon.
Tasha M. Santiago-Rodriguez. 2013. Characterization of Enterococcus faecalis phages as
markers of human fecal pollution in waters and as vectors of antibiotic resistance and
virulence genes. PRSM (Puerto Rico Society of Microbiologists). Interamerican University,
Metropolitan Campus.
Selected Technical Skills
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Culture of environmental and clinical bacteria
Isolation of bacteriophages from environmental and clinical samples
Purification of viruses by cesium chloride gradient
DNA extraction from environmental and clinical samples
DNA extraction from bacteria and viruses isolates
16SrRNA gene, metagenome and virome library preparation for sequencing in Ion
Torrent platform
PCR and quantitative PCR (qPCR)
Statistics
o R (statistical software)
o Primer 6.
Bioinformatics
o Alignment tools: BLAST, ClustalW, Mesquite, CLC Main Workbench.
o Phylogenetics: Mr Bayes, BEAST.
o Primer design: Primer 3, NetPrimer.
o Sequence analysis: Sequencher, CodonCodeAligner, DNA Baser, DNA
Dragon.
o Metagenomic and Transcriptomic data analysis: CLC Genomics Workbench.
o MGRAST
o QIIME
Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFL-P)
Cloning
Professional societies
International Water Association (IWA)
American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
Puerto Rico Society of Microbiology (PRSM)
Languages
Spanish and English