Elise Turner is a PhD student in the Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis Program in the Molecular Microbiology Department. She earned her B.S. in Biology from Howard University in 2024, where her undergraduate research examined how a regulatory protein linked to a virulence factor affects mRNA stability in S. aureus. She then attended the Vanderbilt Postbaccalaureate Research Program (PREP) from 2024-2025, investigating fitness factors of uropathogenic E.coli that promotes survival in the vaginal niche increasing the likelihood of UTI. Her current doctoral research aims to explore the bidirectional relationship between microbes, host factors, and local sensory neurons ton better understand sensory and infection outcomes in the female urogenital tract
