Lisa P. Jacobson, Sc.D.
 Associate Professor
Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Department of Epidemiology
Dr. Jacobson received her M.S. in 1986 and Sc.D. in 1995 in Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Dr. Jacobson has been with the STATEPI team since its inception in 1987. Concomitant with her faculty appointment in 1995, Dr. Jacobson a Co-Investigator in the studies under the auspices of STATEPI and in 1999 she became the Co-Principal Investigator of the Center for the Analysis and Management of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (CAMACS). Dr. Jacobson is currently the Principal Investigator of CAMACS, and Co-Investigator of the data center for two additional multicenter cohort studies: The Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) and Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKID).

Dr. Jacobson's research interests include epidemiologic methods in cohort studies, quality assurance, HIV, and infectious causes of cancer, particularly the human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) and Kaposi's sarcoma. As the Principal Investigator of CAMACS, Dr. Jacobson provides epidemiologic expertise in the conduct of the study, with particular attention to the standardization of study protocols and the design of nested studies. Dr. Jacobson chairs the MACS Data Working Group and represents CAMACS in the Malignancy Group of the Clinical Working Group and participates in the MACS Executive Committee. In addition, she provides epidemiologic, methodological and analytic support to the investigators of the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), representing the WIHS Data Management and Analysis Center (WDMAC) in the Mucosal/Reproductive Health Working Group. As the Principal Investigator of an R01 using MACS specimens and data related to HHV-8, HIV and Kaposi's sarcoma, she has played and will continue to play a leading role in malignancy initiatives. Dr. Jacobson analyzed the timing of infections with HIV-1 and HHV-8 for progression to Kaposi's sarcoma [J Infect Dis 2000;181:1940-1949]. As an extension of her interest in malignacies and research design, Dr. Jacobson collaborates with investigators from the Department of Environmental Health Sciences in investigations of molecular biomarkers for environmental carcinogens.

Dr. Jacobson is also investigating the use and impact of highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART), in the context of cohort studies. In one paper, Dr. Jacobson demonstrated the dramatic decline of Kaposi's sarcoma in the HAART era; a similar immediate effect on the incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was not observed [JAIDS 1999;21:S34-S41]. In another paper, Dr. Jacobson demonstrated that the heterogeneity of using antiretroviral therapies differs according to disease stage [J Clin Epidemiol 2001;54:149-156]. She has been the senior investigator for two papers in which innovative study designs were used. In one paper, she demonstrated the effectiveness of HAART using a biomarker approach [Am J Epidemiol 2002;155:760-770], and in the other paper, Dr. Jacobson, et al. capitalized on the longitudinal measurements in the MACS to address lead-time bias in the examination of when to initiate therapy [Am J Epidemiol 2003;157:738-746]. She provides epidemiologic expertise to the analyses of HIV effectiveness, long-term use and outcomes, including behavior related to HAART. Taking advantage of her expertise in epidemiologic methods, Dr. Jacobson instructs master and doctoral students in the application of these methods in the formation and review of research proposals.

Courses Taught:
  • Problems in the Design of Epidemiologic Studies (Instructor)
  • Public Health Aspects of HIV Infections and AIDS (Lecturer)
  • Cohort Studies: Design, Analyses and Applications (Lecturer)
  • Practical Skills in Planning, Organizing and Conducting Clinical Research in Epidemiology (Instructor)

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This page was updated April 2006.