University of Florida (B.S.) University of Michigan (Ph.D.)
Knownfor
Macrophage heterogeneity Mononuclear phagocyte specialization Natural antibodies and cancer immunosurveillance
Awards
Zucker Award for Women in Science Dartmouth Research Excellence Award for Senior Faculty in Foundational Science
Scientific career
Fields
Immunology
Institutions
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Claudia V. Jakubzick is an American immunologist and Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.[1] She is recognized for her research on the functional specialization of mononuclear phagocytes and their roles in inflammation, cancer immunosurveillance, and immune homeostasis, in addition to her work understanding the role of natural antibodies in cancer elimination during its early stages. [1] Jakubzick calls her lab her art studio because she believes that being a scientist is the greatest job in the world…one where you can uncover the mysteries of life in the most creative ways. [1]
Jakubzick was born and raised in South Miami, Florida.[2] She began her academic journey at Miami Dade College before transferring to the University of Florida, where she earned a B.S. in Microbiology in 1998.[2] She completed a Ph.D. in Immunology at the University of Michigan in 2003 under the mentorship of Drs. Steven Kunkel and Cory Hogaboam.[2] From 2004 to 2009, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the laboratory of Gwendalyn J. Randolph.[2] A more detailed account of her journey to becoming a scientist is featured in her 2019 JEM People profile. Claudia Jakubzick: work hard, play hard.[2]
Career
Jakubzick began her faculty career as an Instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and later held faculty positions at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado.[1] In 2019, she joined the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth as an associate professor and became a full professor in 2024.[1] She has served on the American Association of Immunologists' Minority Affairs Committee and was an organizer for the 2022 Keystone Conference Myeloid Cells: Functions in Infections, Cancer and Beyond.[3]
In 2024, Jakubzick signed a faculty letter supporting Dartmouth College president Sian Beilock, who ordered the arrest of 90 students and faculty members nonviolently protesting the Gaza war.[4][5][6]
Career advice
In her 2019 JEM People profile, Jakubzick shared her professional philosophy and guidance for early-career scientists:
"Be thoughtful, appreciate everyone’s contributions, and organize your life so that you can pursue science. Science is more than a full-time job, and so is raising a family and being part of a community. Get help with the house, logistics, and anything else you can. Try to spend your time doing what matters most to you.”[2]
"Trust your intuitions and do the right thing. If it doesn’t feel right, you’re not doing the right thing. And you must believe in what you are doing. If you don’t, you should do something else."[2]
"Have integrity, and only publish what you’re convinced is really true and will stand the test of time. You can only build a career off real findings."[2]
"Don’t compare yourself to others, and don’t worry too much about what other people think. There is always the temptation to compare your level of success with others’, but that is a trap. You’ll find happiness when you set your own internal standard for what you want to do, and do what you find internally rewarding."[2]
"Share everything you can, and don’t be paranoid. If you’re racing to the finish line with other scientists, it’s better for you to support each other and get there together than to hold each other back. Excitement in fields is built by people doing things together, replicating and building off each other."[2]
"Ignore mean-spirited people, if all attempts to establish harmony fail. Also ignore people who evaluate you not by your research contributions but by their stereotyped impression of you, whether that be because of your gender, background, or something else. You can’t control what other people think. Science (like other careers) can sometimes bring out people’s less prosocial instincts. When it does, I just focus on my science, and on the mentors, friends, and family members who love and support me. Even if you’re not the most popular person, if your science is true, then I believe what my mother-in-law says: The cream rises to the top."[2]
"And finally, have fun. My motto all along has been “work hard, play hard,” although now for me playing hard means spending evenings with my kids. Scientists have the greatest career in the world. We get to decipher humankind’s greatest mysteries, and pursue our own unique, creative visions. There are few things in life more rewarding than that. It’s an absolute privilege to be able to spend your work life innovating and pursuing questions no one has ever known the answer to. Remember that."[2]
Jakubzick’s laboratory investigates the mononuclear phagocyte (MP) system—including macrophages, monocytes, and dendritic cells—with a focus on tissue-resident subsets and their roles in immunity and disease.[1] Her team has been instrumental in characterizing alveolar and interstitial macrophage heterogeneity in the lung, identifying ten functionally distinct subsets in both mice and humans using single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.[7][8][9][10]
Her research explores cross-species homology among mononuclear phagocyte subtypes to improve the translational relevance of mouse models to human immunology, with implications for vaccine design, cancer immunotherapy, and autoimmune disease treatment.[7][10] Notably, her studies on natural antibodies have revealed a previously unrecognized role for B cells and IgM in the early detection and clearance of neoantigen-expressing cells, offering new insights into the mechanisms of cancer immunosurveillance.[11][8]
Jakubzick was also a member of the Immunological Genome Project Consortium, contributing to large-scale efforts to define immune cell transcriptional profiles across tissues and species.[12]
Selected publications
Gibbings SL, et al. Three unique interstitial macrophages in the murine lung at steady state. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2017.[7]
Atif SM, et al. Immune surveillance by natural IgM is required for early neoantigen recognition and initiation of adaptive immunity. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2018.[11]
Jakubzick C, et al. Biology of lung macrophages in health and disease. Immunity. 2022.[8]
Rawat K, et al. CCL5-producing migratory dendritic cells guide CCR5⁺ monocytes into the draining lymph nodes. J Exp Med. 2023.[9]
Li X, et al. Coordinated chemokine expression defines macrophage subsets across tissues. Nat Immunol. 2024.[10]
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