Dr Jaclyn Pearson named L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2017 Australian Fellow

Dr Jaclyn Pearson

Dr Jaclyn Pearson from the Centre for Innate Immunity and Infectious Diseases has been named as a L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science 2017 Australian Fellow. The prestigious fellowship recognises Dr Pearson’s contribution to science and will support her career progression.

Dr Jaclyn Pearson stems her fascination of science to a laboratory class in her undergraduate studies at University of Western Australia. As she first looked down the microscope at the tiny stained bacteria, Jaclyn was amazed at how such a small organism could cause so much harm (or benefit) to human health. Distracted by her love of music, Jaclyn took time away from science to tour with her chart-topping rock band, until finally she returned to her passion of science, specifically microbiology.

For the past eight years, Jaclyn has been a valued researcher at Doherty Institute at The University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, leading world-class research published in the prestigious journal ‘Nature’ and several other leading microbiology journals. Jaclyn is an NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Research Fellow and recently accepted a position as a Research Group Head at Hudson Institute/ Monash University where she will lead her own independent research team.

Jaclyn’s key research interest is of the microorganisms of the gastrointestinal tract, specifically in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). This autoimmune disease is a major global health concern, with Australia having one of the highest prevalences in the world. Many studies have tried to identify the underlying mechanisms of IBD, but given the complexity of immune responses in the gut environment, much remains unknown and current treatments are only partially successful.

In her new role, Jaclyn plans to study the dysregulated immune response seen in IBD and understand how the gut microorganisms play a role in disease severity. Jaclyn will draw on her expertise in microbial models to study the immune response and to characterise the microorganisms within the gut during infection, to understand the most critical contributing factors to IBD.

Jaclyn has previously identified that gut pathogens specifically target host mediators of inflammation and programmed cell death (apoptosis) for modification, disabling their normal function to promote the bacterial infection and spreading. Therefore, Jaclyn will look at a group of host proteins known to be key immune signalling factors that mediate inflammation, apoptosis and necroptosis, and determine which host proteins are essential in protecting against gut infection, and understand how they contribute to the maintenance of gut homeostasis.

Jaclyn’s findings will improve our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of IBD and inform future therapeutic development. Her work could identify host factors that influence the development andseverity of inflammatory disorders of the bowel.

Story courtesy of Hudson Communications.