Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Professor Kim Good-Jacobson is a NHMRC Investigator Fellow who 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 and antibody, exemplified by her recent work published in Immunity (2024) and Nature Immunology (2022).
Kim Good-Jacobson investigates chromatin and transcriptional modifications underlying diversification and selection of B cell fates during the formation of immunity. She 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 specific molecular factors in the establishment of long-lived humoral immunity in health and chronic disease.
She served as Treasurer for the Australian and New Zealand Society of Immunology and has written for The Conversation. She has also been the recipient of funding from the ARC, MRFF, Cancer Institute NSW and Leukaemia Foundation of Australia and has held Bellberry-Viertel and NHMRC Career Development Fellowships.
Related Links:
- B Cells, Antibody, Memory Laboratory
- https://www.monash.edu/discovery-institute/jacobson-lab
- The Conversation: How HIV's evasion tactics could help fight the flu
- https://theconversation.com/how-hivs-evasion-tactics-could-help-fight-the-flu-69278
- 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
Research interests
B cell memory
Epigenomics
Supervision interests
Current graduate students (primary supervisor):
Alana Kirn
Clarissa Chakma
Completed students (primary supervisor):
Lucy Cooper
Yan Zhang
Liam Kealy
Jack Polmear
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Research area keywords
- Immunology
- Infection
- B cells
- Immunity
- Immune memory
- Antibody
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Defining SARS-CoV-2 immune maintenance in the Australian population
Smith, C., Gras, S., Short, K. R., Jacobson, K., Hartel, G., Barrett, H. L. & Kitchener, S.
Department of Health and Aged Care (Australia)
1/11/20 → 1/11/22
Project: Research
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Epigenetic regulation of humoural immunity in health and disease
Bellberry Limited (trading as CT:IQ)
1/01/19 → 1/01/24
Project: Research
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ALL IN - AI and Laboratory Led IdentificatioN of PASC
Short, K. R., Gras, S., Jacobson, K., Trau, M., Fraser, J. F., Carney, M., Eriksson, E. M. Y., Suen, J., Palpant, N. J., Bindra, G., Smith, C., Chung Bernard Shiu, W., Annesley, S. J., D'Orsogna, L. J. & Wuethrich, A.
1/01/24 → 31/12/25
Project: Research
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Defining the features of atypical T cell responses in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) controllers
Gras, S., D'Orsogna, L. J., Chakrabarti, L., Lewin, S., Grant, E., Jacobson, K. & Mackay, L. K.
1/01/23 → 31/12/26
Project: Research
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Targeting BMI-1 in B cells restores effective humoral immune responses and controls chronic viral infection
Di Pietro, A., Polmear, J., Cooper, L., Damelang, T., Hussain, T., Hailes, L., O’Donnell, K., Udupa, V., Mi, T., Preston, S., Shtewe, A., Hershberg, U., Turner, S. J., La Gruta, N. L., Chung, A. W., Tarlinton, D. M., Scharer, C. D. & Good-Jacobson, K. L., Jan 2022, In: Nature Immunology. 23, 1, p. 86-98 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access22 Citations (Scopus) -
The Histone Methyltransferase DOT1L Is Essential for Humoral Immune Responses
Kealy, L., Di Pietro, A., Hailes, L., Scheer, S., Dalit, L., Groom, J. R., Zaph, C. & Good-Jacobson, K. L., 15 Dec 2020, In: Cell Reports. 33, 11, 16 p., 108504.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access21 Citations (Scopus) -
A Touch of Immunology: improving accessibility to the science of antibodies for people with blindness, low vision and diverse needs
Polmear, J., Kealy, L., Xu, H. & Good-Jacobson, K. L., May 2024, In: Immunology and Cell Biology. 102, 5, p. 326-330 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment / Debate › Other › peer-review
Open Access1 Citation (Scopus) -
Visualizing Epigenetic Modifications and Nuclear Bodies by Immunofluorescence Staining in Naïve, Activated, and Memory B Cell Subsets
Chakma, C. R., Garvie, A., Wong, L. H. & Good-Jacobson, K. L., 2024, Memory B-Cells: Methods and Protocols. Good-Jacobson, K. L. (ed.). New York NY USA: Humana Press, p. 47-54 8 p. (Methods in Molecular Biology; vol. 2826).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Other › peer-review
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Elevated BMI reduces the humoral response to SARS-CoV-2 infection
Tong, M. Z. W., Sng, J. D. J., Carney, M., Cooper, L., Brown, S., Lineburg, K. E., Chew, K. Y., Collins, N., Ignacio, K., Airey, M., Burr, L., Joyce, B. A., Jayasinghe, D., McMillan, C. L. D., Muller, D. A., Adhikari, A., Gallo, L. A., Dorey, E. S., Barrett, H. L., Gras, S., & 3 others , 2023, In: Clinical & Translational Immunology. 12, 12, 13 p., e1476.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
Open Access6 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Award
Jacobson, Kim (Recipient), 2016
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Monash University Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity and Inclusion Award
Jacobson, Kim (Recipient), 2017
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
- 4 Editorial responsibility
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Immunology and Cell Biology (Journal)
Kim Jacobson (Editorial board member)
2022 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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Journal of Immunology (Journal)
Kim Jacobson (Section Editor) (Editorial board member)
2021 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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Journal of Immunology (Journal)
Kim Jacobson (Associate editor)
2016 → 2021Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
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Frontiers in Immunology (Journal)
Kim Jacobson (Editorial board member)
2016 → …Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial responsibility
Press/Media
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Scientists find tiny part in body that may be key to how vaccines work
22/08/18
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Scientists unlock new secrets of disease-battling immune cells
27/09/16
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Comment: Six steps to fairer funding for female scientists
25/10/13
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment