Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator (1990-present)
Jacobs has been profiled several times in many media publications including The New York Times, Esquire Magazine and Discovery. [7]
Bill Jacobs | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 13, 1955 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | Edinboro University of Pennsylvania University of Alabama at Birmingham |
| Known for | Developing genetics for Mycobacterium tuberculosis |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Microbiology |
| Institutions | Albert Einstein College of Medicine |
| Doctoral advisor | Roy Curtiss III |
William R. Jacobs Jr., is a professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Professor of Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx, New York, where he is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Jacobs is a specialist in the molecular genetics of Mycobacteria. [1] His research efforts are aimed at discovering genes associated with virulence and pathogenicity in M. tuberculosis and developing attenuated strains for use as vaccines. He is a Founding Scientist at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV. [2]
In 1985, Jacobs joined Barry Bloom's lab at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as a post-doctoral fellow [3] to work on the resurgent problem of tuberculosis. In 1987, the two co-authored a ground-breaking [4] paper published in Nature describing a novel system for the genetic manipulation of mycobacteria, "Introduction of Foreign DNA into Mycobacteria Using a Shuttle Phasmid". [5] By demonstrating the utility of shuttle phasmids as DNA transporters between E. coli plasmids and mycobacteriophages, this paved the way for recombinant DNA research for mycobacteria. [6]
Jacobs has been profiled several times in many media publications including The New York Times, Esquire Magazine and Discovery. [7]
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