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
Shapiro AN, Moultrie H, Jacobson KR, Bor J, da Silva P, Scott L, Jenkins HE. The risk of rifampicin-resistant TB after drug-susceptible TB treatment. IJTLD Open. 2025 Mar; 2(3):173-175. PMID: 40092522.
Published on 3/11/2025Wijk M, Wasmann RE, Jacobson KR, Svensson EM, Denti P. A Pragmatic Approach to Handling Censored Data Below the Lower Limit of Quantification in Pharmacokinetic Modeling. CPT Pharmacometrics Syst Pharmacol. 2025 Mar 11. PMID: 40067154.
Published on 2/20/2025Tzelios 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 Feb 20. PMID: 39973802.
Published on 12/4/2024Mann BC, Loubser J, Omar S, Glanz C, Ektefaie Y, Jacobson KR, Warren RM, Farhat MR. Systematic review and meta-analysis of protocols and yield of direct from sputum sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. bioRxiv. 2024 Dec 04. PMID: 39677639.
Published on 11/26/2024Malatesta S, Jacobson KR, Carney T, Kolaczyk ED, Gile KJ, White LF. Inferring bivariate associations with continuous data from studies using respondent-driven sampling. J R Stat Soc Ser C Appl Stat. 2025 Mar; 74(2):429-446. PMID: 40092669.
Published on 11/1/2024Shapiro AN, Scott L, Moultrie H, Jacobson KR, Bor J, Conradie F, da Silva P, Mlisana K, Jenkins HE, Stevens WS. Risk factors for and timing of presumptive recurrent TB. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2024 Nov 01; 28(11):527-533. PMID: 39468024.
Published on 10/31/2024Murnane PM, Afshar M, Chamie G, Cook RL, Ferguson T, Haque LY, Jacobson KR, Justice AC, Kim TW, Khalili M, Krupitsky E, McGinnis KA, Molina P, Muyindike WR, Myers B, Richards VL, So-Armah K, Stewart S, Sulkowski MS, Tien PC, Hahn JA. Using Phosphatidylethanol as an Adjunct to Self-Reported Alcohol Use Improves Identification of Liver Fibrosis Risk. Am J Gastroenterol. 2024 Oct 31. PMID: 39480054.
Published on 10/14/2024Overbeck V, Malatesta S, Carney T, Myers B, Parry CDH, Horsburgh CR, Theron D, White LF, Warren RM, Jacobson KR, Bouton TC. Understanding the impact of pandemics on long-term medication adherence: directly observed therapy in a tuberculosis treatment cohort pre- and post-COVID-19 lockdowns. BMC Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 14; 24(1):1154. PMID: 39396938.
Published on 8/28/2024Campbell JI, Lavache D, Garing A, Sabharwal V, Haberer JE, Dubois M, Jenkins HE, Brooks MB, Joseph NT, Kissler K, Horsburgh CR, Jacobson KR. Evaluation of the Tuberculosis Infection Care Cascade Among Pregnant Individuals in a Low-Tuberculosis-Burden Setting. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2024 Sep; 11(9):ofae494. PMID: 39238842.
Published on 8/20/2024Ghanem M, Srivastava R, Ektefaie Y, Hoppes D, Rosenfeld G, Yaniv Z, Grinev A, Xu AY, Yang E, Velásquez GE, Harrison L, Rosenthal A, Savic RM, Jacobson KR, Farhat MR. Percent of lung involved in disease on chest X-ray predicts unfavorable treatment outcome in pulmonary tuberculosis. medRxiv. 2024 Aug 20. PMID: 39228708.
Media Mentions
Published on 12/13/2022
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Published on 12/9/2021
BU Scientists Are Prepared to Detect Omicron—and Other Variants
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.