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Karen R. Jacobson, MD, MPH

Associate Professor, Epidemiology - Boston University School of Public Health

(617) 414-5213
karen.jacobson@bmc.org
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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.

Other Positions

  • Associate Professor, Medicine - Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research - Boston University

Education

  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD Field of Study: Medicine
  • Harvard School of Public Health, MPH Field of Study: Clinical Evaluation/Research
  • Yale University, BS Field of Study: Biology

Websites

Publications

  • Published on 7/23/2026

    Campbell JI, Brooks MB, Dankovchik J, Giebultowicz S, Falkenstein A, Angier H, Horsburgh CR, Tschampl CA, Haberer JE, Bressler J, Epstein RL, Jenkins HE, Jacobson KR. Uncovering Household Tuberculosis Infection Testing and Care Patterns Using a Novel Bioinformatics Linkage Strategy. Clin Infect Dis. 2026 Jul 23; 83(1):e167-e176. PMID: 41668263.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 6/19/2026

    Kulkarni SG, Marin MG, Mann BC, Rawoot N, Goodwin S, Cesare N, Warren RM, Jacobson KR, Farhat MR. Within-host pathogen population diversity predicts treatment response in Tuberculosis. medRxiv. 2026 Jun 19. PMID: 42369478.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 6/1/2026

    Murnane PM, Xia F, Afshar M, Brown JL, Chamie G, Cook RL, Couture MC, DiClemente RJ, Fatch R, Ferguson T, Francis JM, Haberer JE, Jacobson KR, Justice AC, Kapiga S, Kim TW, Krupitsky E, Marcus GM, Molina PE, Muyindike WR, Myers B, Page K, Phillips SA, Piano MR, Richards VL, So-Armah K, Stewart S, Sulkowski MS, Tien PC, Woolf-King S, Hahn JA. Exploring Phosphatidylethanol Cutoffs for Self-Reported Unhealthy Alcohol Use: An International Multi-Site Analysis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2026 Jun; 50(6):e70361. PMID: 42345465.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/20/2026

    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. 2026 May 20; 82(5):e1014-e1022. PMID: 41133922.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/15/2026

    Campbell JI, Vachharajani O, Dubois MM, Martinez L, Christos PJ, Herlihy JM, Jenkins HE, Horsburgh CR, Jacobson KR, Powis KM. Tuberculosis in children who are HIV-exposed uninfected: A systematic review and metaanalysis. AIDS. 2026 May 15. PMID: 42138367.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 5/14/2026

    Brown TS, Nelson K, Kissler S, Martinez L, Horsburgh CR, White LF, Mathema B, Jacobson KR. Understanding and exploiting superspreading to disrupt Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission. Lancet Infect Dis. 2026 May 14. PMID: 42134384.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/29/2026

    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. 2026 Apr 29; 233(4):763-772. PMID: 41060285.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/24/2026

    Kulkarni SG, Green AG, Mann BC, Malatesta S, Kulkarni-Goodwin S, Cesare N, Mulaudzi S, Rawoot N, Warren RM, Jacobson KR, Farhat MR. Convolutional neural networks quantify antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis with diagnostic grade accuracy and predict treatment response. Nat Commun. 2026 Apr 24; 17(1). PMID: 42031767.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/16/2026

    Ghanem 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. Tuberculosis Disease Severity Assessment Using Clinical Variables and Radiology Enabled by Artificial Intelligence. J Infect Dis. 2026 Apr 16. PMID: 41989328.

     Read At: PubMed
  • Published on 4/15/2026

    Mann BC, Loubser J, Omar S, Glanz C, Ektefaie Y, Jacobson KR, Warren RM, Farhat MR. Response to letter: Protocol signals or study effects in direct sputum whole-genome sequencing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis? Tuberculosis (Edinb). 2026 May; 158:102769. PMID: 42013764.

     Read At: PubMed

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