SUMMARY
Elizabeth A. Jacobsen, Ph.D., is a researcher with expertise in eosinophils and mouse models of inflammation. Dr. Jacobsen was a mentee and colleague of the late Mayo Clinic researcher James J. Lee, Ph.D.
Dr. Jacobsen has identified eosinophils as immune cells that can be differentially activated to induce responses of other immune cells such as T cells, dendritic cells, alveolar macrophages and group 2 innate lymphoid cells. Much of Dr. Jacobsen's earlier work is in mouse models of allergic asthma. Dr. Jacobsen collaborates extensively to understand eosinophil biology in a range of physiological and disease mechanisms.
Focus areas
- Eosinophils as a biomarker of tissue eosinophilia in allergies. Dr. Jacobsen optimizes assays that use eosinophil peroxidase, the only unique eosinophil protein in both mice and humans, as a biomarker of eosinophil tissue infiltration in allergic diseases.
- Classification of eosinophil subtypes and their contributions to disease activities. The factors that regulate specific eosinophil phenotypes remain to be identified. These cells are now known to have roles in cancer, infection and other diseases that go beyond the type 2 environment of allergy.
- Eosinophil interactions with other cells in asthma. Dr. Jacobsen's research has shown that eosinophils have a reciprocal role with other immune cells such as group 2 innate lymphoid cells, T cells and other myeloid cells.
- Role of eosinophils in lung transplantation and lung injury. Dr. Jacobsen studies eosinophil function in lung transplantation and lung injury.
Significance to patient care
Dr. Jacobsen's research in eosinophils aims to better understand the role of this evolutionarily conserved cell in regulating immune responses in disease. The concept of this cell as more than a destructive mediator is an expanding field of basic science and medicine.
Because the FDA has approved several new biologics targeting eosinophils recently, understanding the importance of eosinophils as immune regulatory cells in health is critical. Eosinophils were recently shown to participate in a healthy intestinal microbiome, and their depletion may have unintended consequences.
Dr. Jacobsen's research has the potential to provide personalized diagnostics by phenotyping people by the presence or function of eosinophils in disease processes.