AECAlbert Einstein College of Medicine · Microbiology & Immunology
Jacobs Lab
William Robert Jacobs · Bronx, New York
Research Focus
William Robert Jacobs leads a research lab focused on understanding how Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB), interacts with the immune system. His lab investigates a specialized protein transport system called Esx5, which is important for the bacterium's ability to cause disease and evade the immune response. By studying a mutant version of this bacterium, which acts as a potential vaccine, the lab aims to identify and characterize key proteins involved in TB pathogenesis and immunity.
tuberculosisMycobacterium tuberculosisprotein transportvaccine developmentimmune responseEsx5 secretomeTB-HIV interactionsattenuated vaccinespathogenesis
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how the Esx5 secretome influences TB pathogenesis.
AIM 02Identify the specific proteins secreted by the esx5 mutant strain.
AIM 03Characterize the immunologic responses elicited by the mutant vaccine.
AIM 04Explore the functional roles of PE and PPE protein families in TB.
AIM 05Assess the potential of the esx5 mutant as a live attenuated vaccine.
Skills the Lab Values
PCRcell culturegenetic manipulationproteomicsquantitative analysisanimal modelsimmunohistochemistryprotein purificationmicroscopy
Output against the department
Publications608top 4% of dept.19th of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations54ktop 4% of dept.19th of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.