José Hernández Valle, Ph.D.

Research

In the Storz lab, I will study how iron, a trace metal that is an essential micronutrient required for various normal biological activities, is regulated and maintained at physiological levels in bacteria by the action of small RNAs (sRNAs). These sRNAs allow bacteria to respond rapidly to various stressors, including iron limitation, a condition that pathogenic bacteria often experience during infection due to the host’s nutritional immunity. Using cutting-edge techniques in RNA sequencing and bioinformatics, I will investigate the RNA interactomes across various bacterial strains to determine how sRNAs function when iron is depleted and then when iron homeostasis is restored and how this is connected to virulence. Understanding how pathogens respond to iron-limiting conditions is crucial for developing new therapeutic strategies.