Jessica F Brinkworth

Jessica Brinkworth

Contact Information

109 Davenport Hall
607 S. Matthews Ave.
M/C 148
Urbana, IL 61801
(217)265-0734
jfbrinkw@illinois.edu

Office Hours

  • W 10:50-11:50 am
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Assistant Professor
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Research Interests

  • Evolution of primate immunity, innate immunity, severe bacterial infections, sepsis, plague, Toxoplasma, host-pathogen interactions, immunogenomics, evolutionary medicine

Research Description

My research addresses the physiological consequences of the human experience and evolutionary past, particularly those that affect innate immune system function.  Current projects focus on the functional divergence and diversification of primate immune systems, how past epidemics affect present day immune function diversity and how life experienceaffects the innate immune response.

Education

  • 2012, PhD, City University of New York Graduate Center, Anthropology

Distinctions / Awards

  • 2013-2015 Quebec Network of Applied Genetic Medicine (RGMA) Fellow

Grants

Courses

  • ANTH 241 - Human Variation and Race
  • ANTH 499 - Topics in Anthropology (Evolution and Ecology of Immune Systems)/Evolutionary Immunology
  • ANTH 249 - Evolution and Human Disease
  • ANTH 499 - Topics in Anthropology (Anthropological Functional Genomics lab)
  • ANTH 499 - Topics in Anthropology (Anthropological Functional Genomics lab)
  • ANTH 499 - Topics in Anthropology (Anthropological Functional Genomics lab)

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

Brinkworth, J F Infectious Disease and the Diversification of the Human Genome Human Biology 89 1 2017.
Snyder-Mackler, N, J Sanz, J N Kohn, J F Brinkworth, S Morrow, A O Shaver, J C Grenier, R Pique-Regi, Z P Johnson, M E Wilson, L B Barreiro, and J Tung Social status alters immune regulation and response to infection in macaques Science 354 6315 2016, p. 1041-1045.
Brinkworth, J F, and L B Barreiro The contribution of natural selection to present-day susceptibility to chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease Current Opinions in Immunology 31 2014, p. 66-78.

Book Contributions

Brinkworth, J F, and M Thorn Vertebrate immune system evolution and comparative primate immunity Primates, Pathogens and Evolution edited by J Brinkworth, compiled by E Pechenkina. Vertebrate immune system evolution and comparative primate immunity Edited by J Brinkworth, Compiled by E Pechenkina, New York Springer Publishing 2013, p. 17-64.