Jacqueline Kimmey, Ph.D.

Research

The Kimmey lab will investigate how our circadian clock influences our immunity to infection. Bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, a leading cause of bacterial pneumonia, can cause either an asymptomatic or a life-threatening infection. This variability may be influenced by our circadian clock, the cellular timekeeping system that regulates our daily rhythms in sleeping, eating, and a variety of physiological responses. Shift workers—whose circadian rhythms are frequently disrupted—are more prone to developing respiratory infections. I have found that exposure to a variety of bacteria resets the circadian “time” of mammalian cells by boosting the levels of a core component of the molecular clock. Now, using an array of cutting-edge techniques in molecular genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, my lab will identify the bacterial components that trigger this reset, track how the clock’s molecular components respond during live infection in zebrafish, and determine how the time of infection affects disease severity in mice. These findings could lead to novel strategies for using the body’s clock to boost our natural immunity to infectious disease.