Jay Brito Querido, Ph.D.

portrait of Jay Brito Querido, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Biological Chemistry, U-M Medical School
Research Assistant Professor, Life Sciences Institute
Faculty Scholar, Center for RNA Biomedicine

Jay Brito Querido received his B.S. in biochemistry and M.Sc. in medical biochemistry from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. He then completed his Ph.D. in cellular and molecular biology at the University of Strasbourg, France. In 2018, Jay joined the laboratory of Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, United Kingdom, as a postdoctoral scientist to study the mechanism of messenger RNA translation initiation in humans using single-particle cryo-electron microscopy. 

He started his career as a research assistant at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Portugal. Since then, he has received numerous honors and awards, including best M.Sc. Thesis Award given by RedTrV, best Ph.D. Thesis Award given by the Biology Society of Strasbourg, FEBS Long-Term Postdoctoral Fellowship given by the Federation of European Biochemical Societies, and Medal of Merit - 1st Class, awarded by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde.

He has been named RNA Faculty Scholar by the Center for RNA Biomedicine, a Biological Sciences Scholar by the University of Michigan Medical School and member of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center.

Research Areas

structural biology

molecular biology

biochemistry

RNA translation

cryo-electron microscopy

neuroscience

  • B.S., Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal (2009)
  • M.S., Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal (2011)
  • Ph.D., Life and Health Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Aspects of Biology, University of Strasbourg, France (2017)
  • Postdoctoral Scientist, European Institute of Chemistry and Biology, France (2018)
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (2018-2022)