Dr. Kim Jacobson (publishing as Kim Good-Jacobson) studies the formation of immunity. Human health and longevity is dependent on the ability of the immune system to clear the multitude of different foreign pathogens encountered over the life of the host. Her research studies the ability of the immune system to clear pathogens and form immunity through production of B cell memory.

Dr. Kim Good-Jacobson investigates chromatin and transcriptional modifications underlying diversification and selection of B cell fates during the formation of immunity. Dr. Jacobson completed her PhD at the Centenary and Garvan Institutes in 2007. She was awarded an Arthritis Australia AFA-ARA Heald Fellowship, followed by a CJ Martin Fellowship from the NHMRC to undertake postdoctoral training at Yale University, where she revealed a novel role for the inhibitory receptor PD-1 in humoral responses. She returned to Australia in 2010 and has since made key insights into how histone modifications regulate B cell memory, and the essential requirement for the oncogene c-Myb in the establishment of long-lived humoral immunity. Dr. Jacobson has recently relocated to Monash University to establish her own laboratory, focusing on immune memory regulation in health and chronic disease. She currently serves as Deputy Treasurer for ASI and has written for The Conversation. Dr. Jacobson has also been the recipient of funding from the Cancer Institute NSW and Leukaemia Foundation of Australia.

Related Links:

• B Cells and Antibody Memory Laboratory http://www.med.monash.edu.au/biochem/labs/jacobson/index.html
• The Conversation: Explainer: How viruses can fool the immune system https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-viruses-can-fool-the-immune-system-43707
• The Conversation: Six Steps to Fairer Funding for Female Scientists https://theconversation.com/six-steps-to-fairer-funding-for-female-scientists-16895

Current graduate student:

Lucy Cooper - Master of Biomedical Science Preliminary - Role of transcription factors in regulating antibody responses to infection

Current honours student:

Rohia Farighi - Bachelor of Science (Honours) - Epigenetic regulation of B cell responses

Previous honours student:

Callisthenis Yiannis - Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) - Epigenetic regulation of antibody responses