World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Microbiology
USA
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Microbiology

D-Index
143
Citations
71380
World Ranking
46
National Ranking
24

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Microbiology in United States Leader Award
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Overview

What is he best known for?

The fields of study he is best known for:

  • Gene
  • Enzyme
  • DNA

His scientific interests lie mostly in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microbiology, Tuberculosis, Virology and Genetics. The concepts of his Mycobacterium tuberculosis study are interwoven with issues in Isoniazid and Biochemistry, Gene, Virulence. The study incorporates disciplines such as Mycobacterium, Mutagenesis, Mutant, Mycobacterium smegmatis and In vivo in addition to Microbiology.

His Tuberculosis study also includes fields such as

  • Immunology together with Infectious disease,
  • Acquired immune system and related T cell. While the research belongs to areas of Virology, William R. Jacobs spends his time largely on the problem of Immunocompetence, intersecting his research to questions surrounding Interferon gamma. His Genetics research focuses on Mycobacteriophage and how it connects with Transformation, Shuttle vector and Genetic transfer.

His most cited work include:

  • Effect of vasodilator therapy on mortality in chronic congestive heart failure. Results of a Veterans Administration Cooperative Study. (2014 citations)
  • New use of BCG for recombinant vaccines. (1267 citations)
  • inhA, a gene encoding a target for isoniazid and ethionamide in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (1164 citations)

What are the main themes of his work throughout his whole career to date?

William R. Jacobs mainly investigates Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microbiology, Tuberculosis, Virology and Biochemistry. His Mycobacterium tuberculosis study incorporates themes from Gene, Virulence, Drug resistance and Isoniazid. His Gene research is within the category of Genetics.

His Microbiology study which covers Mycobacterium smegmatis that intersects with Plasmid. His Tuberculosis research integrates issues from Pathogen, Immunology, Antibiotics and Auxotrophy. William R. Jacobs interconnects Immune system, Immunity and Antigen in the investigation of issues within Virology.

He most often published in these fields:

  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis (51.32%)
  • Microbiology (47.37%)
  • Tuberculosis (35.34%)

What were the highlights of his more recent work (between 2014-2021)?

  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis (51.32%)
  • Microbiology (47.37%)
  • Virology (32.71%)

In recent papers he was focusing on the following fields of study:

William R. Jacobs mostly deals with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microbiology, Virology, Tuberculosis and Immune system. His Mycobacterium tuberculosis research incorporates themes from Biochemistry, Enzyme, Isoniazid, In vivo and Virulence. He has researched Microbiology in several fields, including Biofilm, Bacteria, Oxidative stress and Mutant.

His study in Virology is interdisciplinary in nature, drawing from both T cell and Antigen. Rifampicin is closely connected to Drug resistance in his research, which is encompassed under the umbrella topic of Tuberculosis. William R. Jacobs combines subjects such as Receptor and Mycobacterium bovis with his study of Immune system.

Between 2014 and 2021, his most popular works were:

  • Whole Genome Comparison of a Large Collection of Mycobacteriophages Reveals a Continuum of Phage Genetic Diversity (177 citations)
  • Auranofin exerts broad-spectrum bactericidal activities by targeting thiol-redox homeostasis (137 citations)
  • Separable roles for Mycobacterium tuberculosis ESX-3 effectors in iron acquisition and virulence (87 citations)

In his most recent research, the most cited papers focused on:

  • Gene
  • Enzyme
  • DNA

William R. Jacobs focuses on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microbiology, Tuberculosis, Virology and Immunology. His biological study spans a wide range of topics, including NADH dehydrogenase, Oxidative phosphorylation, Biochemistry, Enzyme and Antigen presentation. His Microbiology study incorporates themes from Oxidative stress, Reactive oxygen species, Mutant, Bacteria and In vivo.

In general Tuberculosis, his work in Isoniazid is often linked to Global health linking many areas of study. His work carried out in the field of Virology brings together such families of science as Spleen, Immunity and Effector. In his research, Cytokine is intimately related to Mycobacterium bovis, which falls under the overarching field of Immune system.

Best Publications

  • Effect of vasodilator therapy on mortality in chronic congestive heart failure. Results of a Veterans Administration Cooperative Study.

    Jay N. Cohn;Donald G. Archibald;Susan Ziesche;Joseph A. Franciosa

  • inhA, a gene encoding a target for isoniazid and ethionamide in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    A. Banerjee;E. Dubnau;A. Quemard;V. Balasubramanian

  • New use of BCG for recombinant vaccines.

    C. K. Stover;V. F. De La Cruz;T. R. Fuerst;J. E. Burlein

  • Persistence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages and mice requires the glyoxylate shunt enzyme isocitrate lyase

    John D. McKinney;John D. McKinney;John D. McKinney;Kerstin Höner Zu Bentrup;Kerstin Höner Zu Bentrup;Kerstin Höner Zu Bentrup;Ernesto J. Muñoz-Elias;Andras Miczak;Andras Miczak

  • Isolation and characterization of efficient plasmid transformation mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis.

    S. B. Snapper;R. E. Melton;S. Mustafa;T. Kieser

  • An Outbreak of Tuberculosis With Accelerated Progression Among Persons Infected With the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. An Analysis Using Restriction-Fragment-Length Polymorphisms

    Charles L. Daley;Peter M. Small;Gisela F. Schecter;Gary K. Schoolnik

  • Whole-Genome Comparison of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical and Laboratory Strains

    R. D. Fleischmann;D. Alland;Jonathan A Eisen;L. Carpenter

  • The primary mechanism of attenuation of bacillus Calmette–Guérin is a loss of secreted lytic function required for invasion of lung interstitial tissue

    Tsungda Hsu;Suzanne M. Hingley-Wilson;Bing Chen;Mei Chen

  • Complex lipid determines tissue-specific replication of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in mice

    Jeffery S. Cox;Bing Chen;Michael McNeil;William R. Jacobs

  • Modification of the NADH of the Isoniazid Target (InhA) from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

    Denise A. Rozwarski;Gregory A. Grant;Derek H. R. Barton;William R. Jacobs

  • A novel mycolic acid cyclopropane synthetase is required for cording, persistence, and virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Michael S Glickman;Jeffery S Cox;William R Jacobs

  • Origins of Highly Mosaic Mycobacteriophage Genomes

    Marisa L Pedulla;Michael E Ford;Jennifer M Houtz;Tharun Karthikeyan

  • Specialized transduction: an efficient method for generating marked and unmarked targeted gene disruptions in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. bovis BCG and M. smegmatis.

    Stoyan Bardarov;Svetoslav Bardarov Jr;Martin S Pavelka Jr;Vasan Sambandamurthy

  • Cloning and nucleotide sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis gyrA and gyrB genes and detection of quinolone resistance mutations.

    H. E. Takiff;L. Salazar;C. Guerrero;W. Philipp

  • THE EMB OPERON, A GENE CLUSTER OF MYCOBACTERIUM TUBERCULOSIS INVOLVED IN RESISTANCE TO ETHAMBUTOL

    Amalio Telenti;Wolfgang J. Philipp;Srinand Sreevatsan;Claudia Bernasconi

  • Growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis biofilms containing free mycolic acids and harbouring drug-tolerant bacteria.

    Anil K. Ojha;Anthony D. Baughn;Dhinakaran Sambandan;Tsungda Hsu

  • Rapid assessment of drug susceptibilities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by means of luciferase reporter phages

    William R. Jacobs;Raúl G. Barletta;Rupa Udani;John Chan

  • Crystal structure and function of the isoniazid target of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Andrea Dessen;Annaik Quemard;John S. Blanchard;William R. Jacobs

  • Microbial Pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: Dawn of a Discipline

    Michael S. Glickman;William R. Jacobs

  • Genetic Systems for Mycobacteria

    William R. Jacobs;Ganjam V. Kalpana;Jeffrey D. Cirillo;Lisa Pascopella

  • Molecular genetics of mycobacteria

    Graham F. Hatfull;William R. Jacobs

Frequent Co-Authors

Catherine Vilchèze
Catherine Vilchèze Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Barry R. Bloom
Barry R. Bloom Harvard University
Steven A. Porcelli
Steven A. Porcelli Albert Einstein College of Medicine
James C. Sacchettini
James C. Sacchettini Texas A&M University
Graham F. Hatfull
Graham F. Hatfull University of Pittsburgh
John Chan
John Chan Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Laurent Kremer
Laurent Kremer Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier
Gurdyal S. Besra
Gurdyal S. Besra University of Birmingham
Betsy C. Herold
Betsy C. Herold Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Barton F. Haynes
Barton F. Haynes Duke University

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