Karen R. Jacobson MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Infectious Diseases
Associate Professor, Epidemiology
801 Massachusetts Ave | (617) 414-5213karen.jacobson@bmc.org
kjacobso@bu.edu
Sections
Infectious Diseases
Centers
Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
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.
Education
Medicine, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Clinical Evaluation/Research, MPH, Harvard School of Public Health
Biology, BS, Yale University
Publications
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.
Published on 10/8/2025Malatesta 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.
Published on 9/17/2025Cohodes 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.
Published on 8/29/2025Niemand 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.
Published on 8/29/2025Martins 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.
Published on 8/1/2025Tzelios CA, Malatesta S, Carney T, White LF, Weber SE, Thomson S, Theron D, Myers B, Parry CDH, Warren RM, Horsburgh CR, Farhat MR, Jacobson KR. Patient Determinants and Effects on Adherence of Adverse Drug Reactions to Tuberculosis Treatment: A Prospective Cohort Analysis. Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Aug 01; 81(1):167-175. PMID: 39973802.
Published on 6/26/2025Carney T, Johnson K, Meade C, Niemand N, Rooney J, Weber S, Lambrechts T, Mpisane N, Horsburgh CR, Theron D, Warren R, Thomson S, Overbeck V, Myers B, Jacobson K. The feasibility of respondent-driven sampling with people who use drugs in rural Western Cape, South Africa: A qualitative study. PLOS Glob Public Health. 2025; 5(6):e0004065. PMID: 40569934.
Published on 6/11/2025Campbell JI, Garing A, Lavache D, Bahad S, Hofman M, Haberer JE, Brooks MB, Sinha P, White LF, Sabharwal V, Tschampl CA, Horsburgh CR, Jenkins HE, Jacobson KR. Social Vulnerability Modifies the Effects of Geographic Proximity on Engagement in Latent Tuberculosis Infection Care in a United States Safety Net Healthcare Network. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2025 Jul; 12(7):ofaf347. PMID: 40606058.
Published on 5/6/2025Marin MG, Quinones-Olvera N, Wippel C, Behruznia M, Jeffrey BM, Harris M, Mann BC, Rosenthal A, Jacobson KR, Warren RM, Li H, Meehan CJ, Farhat MR. Pitfalls of bacterial pan-genome analysis approaches: a case study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and two less clonal bacterial species. Bioinformatics. 2025 May 06; 41(5). PMID: 40341387.
Published on 4/20/2025Thomson SJ, Mistry R, Bayly H, Overbeck V, Sagar M, Schechter-Perkins EM, White LF, Jacobson KR, Bouton TC. Barriers to recruitment of an observational SARS-CoV-2 emergency department cohort at Boston Medical Center. BMC Emerg Med. 2025 Apr 20; 25(1):68. PMID: 40254607.
Media Mentions
Published on 12/13/2022
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Published on 12/9/2021
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Published on 12/9/2021
Scientists race to define Omicron threat, worried about ‘surge upon a surge’
Published on 12/7/2021
Experts: Current tests detect Omicron variant, but transmissibility a concern
Published on 10/7/2021
Projected Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Outcomes Associated With Hepatitis C Virus
View full list of 15 media mentions.