News – March 24, 2023

New Co-Head of Monash BDI’s Immunity Program: Congratulations to Professor Kim Good-Jacobson

 

Monash BDI is delighted to announce that Professor Kim Good-Jacobson will be taking up the role of Co-Head of the Immunity Program, working alongside Professor Stephen Turner. This reflects Kim’s outstanding research and leadership contributions as well as the rapidly expanding size and organisational requirements of the Immunity Program. In their roles, Kim and Steve will oversee complementary portfolios spanning inter- and intra-Program collaborations, clinical and industry interactions, research funding and BDI engagement with external partners.

Kim’s research studies the ability of the immune system to clear pathogens and form immunity through production of antibody and B cell memory. Understanding the molecular networks and unique regulators that underpin this is core to finding new treatments for B cell-mediated disease and future vaccine design. Her work has been published in some of the leading immunity journals including Nature Immunology, Science, Cell Reports and the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Kim has received many accolades for her work, including being a Victorian Young Tall Poppy Science Award recipient, a winner in the GSK Discovery Fast Track Challenge, being awarded a a Bellberry-Viertel Fellowship, an American Association of Immunologists Careers in Immunology Fellowship and an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship.

Kim has a broad external profile, involving roles with multiple scientific organisations such as the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology, where she previously served on the Executive Council and as Treasurer of the Society.

Kim has also made outstanding contributions through her leadership positions. As a member of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Executive, she conceived and established the Career Development Committee, which has driven initiatives to develop and support emerging diverse leaders within the Department. The impact of this work has reached beyond Monash, with the committee’s Career Strategy Panel framework for EMCRs being recently adopted by the University of Melbourne’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology. She also Chairs the Faculty steering committee for the Micromon Platform, and has been a key member of gender equity committees at Monash and externally.

Find out more about Kim and the work of her lab by visiting her lab virtually, or you can make contact by email:  kim.jacobson@monash.edu