Jens Kortmann
Ruhr-University Bochum
Symposia Attended
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Research Interests
Microbiology
Research Statement
I obtained my Ph.D. (December 2010) with Franz Narberhaus (Ruhr-University Bochum) working on temperature-sensitive RNA elements (RNA thermometers) residing upstream of bacterial heat shock and virulence genes. I have spent another year in Franz' lab working on external factors (proteins and regulatory sRNA) that might alter functionality of virulence RNA thermometers during infection. Besides regulatory RNA, my research interests include understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the continuous tug-of-war between intracellular pathogens and the host. Thus, in January 2012, I will join the group of Denise Monack at Stanford University, School of Medicine, to investigate how cells of the host immune system, macrophages, recognize and fight intracellular bacteria. This intracellular recognition leads to the assembly of a host-protective multimolecular complex termed inflammasome. Despite its central role in immunity, the precise molecular architecture and composition of inflammasome complexes remains largely unknown. I am interested in the identification and characterization of novel inflammasome molecules and pathways. In sum, this information will help to develop vaccines that exclusively induce cell death to remove the intracellular niche of microbial replication, but do not promote the maturation of cytokines that induce inflammation and potentially harm the human host.
