Sérgio Filipe is an Associate Professor and head of the Bacterial Cell Surfaces and Pathogenesis research group at the NOVA School of Science and Technology of Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

His research focuses on understanding bacterial mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and interactions between bacterial pathogens and host cells. To uncover the dynamics of the bacterial cell envelope, his lab employs fluorescence microscopy, liquid chromatography and molecular biology techniques, using frequently Streptococcus pneumoniae as a model organism. In particular, he has been investigating how and why pneumococcal bacteria switch between a linear and branched peptidoglycan and how bacteria coordinate the synthesis of this macromolecule with other polymers present at their cell envelope, such as the capsular polysaccharide.