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Research area(s)

Jackie’s main research interests are in infectious diseases, and particularly how chronic conditions affect immune responses to pathogens. A substantial part of Jackie’s research has been investigating immune responses in people with tuberculosis, and specifically how altered blood gene expression can be utilised for tuberculosis diagnosis and drug treatment monitoring: this is beneficial for clinical management and for the development of new drugs. In a multicentre study, her research group also found that people with type 2 diabetes have excessive inflammatory responses in tuberculosis but suppressed specific protective immune responses, which may underpin their recognised enhanced susceptibility to tuberculosis disease. We are currently using macrophage in vitro models to further understand protective immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and how this is affected in diabetes. This could lead to host-directed therapy in this group of people, alongside conventional antibiotic treatment.

Jackie has also been investigating immunological changes in people living with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a poorly understood condition estimated to affect around 125,000 people in the UK, often leading to severe disability. It is frequently triggered by viral infection, and there are substantial overlaps in symptomology with people with Long COVID, including severe fatigue, post-exertional symptom exacerbation and brain fog. We have found alterations in the T cell compartment in people with ME/CFS, and also preliminary evidence of enhanced reactivation of some human herpesviruses, which are highly prevalent in the adult population but usually well-controlled.

Research Interests

• Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Long COVID
• Tuberculosis
• Type 2 diabetes
• Treatment-response
• Biomarkers