Karen R. Jacobson, MD, MPH

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Karen Jacobson is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Section of Infectious Diseases, Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Jacobson’s research focuses on the epidemiology of tuberculosis, including identification of biological and social determinants of and risk factors for tuberculosis infection and disease (including drug resistant tuberculosis) and approaches for improving tuberculosis outcomes in resource-limited settings. Dr. Jacobson is the Medical Director of the Boston Medical Center Tuberculosis Clinic and has established a highly productive collaboration with researchers in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work has particular emphasis in understanding how substance use impacts on tuberculosis transmission and response to therapy.

Publications

  • Published 10/24/2025

    Wijk M, Denti P, Gausi K, Myers B, Carney T, White LF, Theron D, Parry CDH, Horsburgh CR, Rawoot N, Warren RM, Court R, Kulkarni SG, Farhat MR, Buys C, Malatesta S, Weber SE, Kulkarni S, McIlleron H, Jacobson KR, Kloprogge F. Insights into the Role of Rifampicin Exposure and Clinical Baseline Covariates on the Response to Pulmonary Tuberculosis Treatment. Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Oct 24. PMID: 41133922.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 10/8/2025

    Malatesta S, Carney T, Niemand Wolhuter N, Overbeck V, Theron D, Weber SE, Meade CS, Thomson S, Bouton TC, Farhat M, Myers B, Wood R, Ratangee F, Horsburgh CR, White LF, Warren RM, Jacobson KR. Tuberculosis Disease Prevalence Among People Who Smoke Illicit Drugs: A Respondent- Driven Sampling Study in the Western Cape, South Africa. J Infect Dis. 2025 Oct 08. PMID: 41060285.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/17/2025

    Cohodes M, Fernandez A, Ashkin D, Reed C, Park S, Banaei N, Fung M, Jacobson K, Goswami ND. Curated cases from the TB expert network: Unplugged! Series: Use of plasma microbial cell-free DNA metagenomic sequencing to diagnose Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Clin Tuberc Other Mycobact Dis. 2025 Dec; 41:100563. PMID: 41049022.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/29/2025

    Niemand N, Rooney JA, Malatesta S, Rawoot N, Bouton TC, Ragan EJ, Carney T, White LF, Farhat M, Horsburgh CR, Myers B, Warren RM, Jacobson KR. Contamination rates in serially sampled sputum specimens obtained during tuberculosis treatment to capture culture conversion. Microbiol Spectr. 2025 Aug 29; e0096925. PMID: 40879468.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/29/2025

    Martins MF, Teran Plasencia JM, Jacobson KR, Bouton TC, Traber KE, Canning M, Bourque DL, Sabharwal V, Michaud R, Sinha P, Acuña-Villaorduña CJ. Rifampin versus isoniazid completion rates for TB infection. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2025 Aug 29; 29(9):425-427. PMID: 40883884.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 98 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Associate Professor, Epidemiology
    Boston University School of Public Health
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD
  • Harvard School of Public Health, MPH
  • Yale University, BS

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