In recent years, there has been growing recognition of the importance of regulatory processes mediated by RNA molecules in cells. In bacteria, there is a group of regulatory RNAs known as small RNAs (sRNAs), which control a wide range of cellular processes, including pathogenicity (the ability of bacteria to cause disease), metabolism, growth, and more.
During my studies, I acquired a broad background in life sciences, including training in both applied and basic research. In my doctoral work, under the supervision of Prof. Shimshon Belkin, I developed bacterial-based biosensors for monitoring environmental pollution, including an innovative method for immobilizing live bacteria at the nanoliter scale, a key step in building a bacterial sensor array. In my postdoctoral research, I shifted my focus to the regulation of gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. I first worked with Prof. Hanah Margalit at the Hebrew University, where I developed with my colleagues a method combining experimental and computational approaches called RIL-seq (RNA interaction by ligation and sequencing). This method enables large-scale identification of mRNA targets of sRNAs. I then joined the lab of Dr. Gisela Storz at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where I delved into the study of how sRNAs influence bacterial physiology, focusing on the characterization of previously uncharacterized RNA-binding proteins.
I established my own lab in 2021. We study the roles of sRNAs in bacterial interactions with various environmental factors: bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria), other bacteria in shared growth environments, or hosts in the case of pathogenic bacteria. To this end, we combine global sequencing-based approaches (next-generation sequencing) with targeted biochemical and genetic methods to characterize the activity of individual sRNAs. A deep understanding of the regulatory mechanisms mediated by sRNAs contributes both to our basic understanding of biological processes in bacteria and to the development of novel strategies for treating bacterial infections, a particularly critical area in light of the continuous rise in antibiotic resistance.
