Jessica Borger
Jessica Geraldine Borger is an Australian T Cell immunologist, lecturer and graduate course coordinator at the Central Clinical School, Monash University.[1] Her research has added to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms of T cell function.[2] Additionally, Borger is a news and commentary editor for Immunology & Cell Biology[3] and a guest associate editor for Frontiers in Immunology,[4] and a reviewer for several academic journals.[1] Borger also advocates for gender equality in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in her position a member of the Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion committee of the Central Clinical School at Monash University.
Education
[edit]Borger started her studying towards her undergraduate degree when she was 21 years old.[5] She received a bachelor's degree in medical and pharmaceutical biotechnology from the University of South Australia.[1] Eight years after completing her bachelor's degree, she moved to the UK to begin her PhD at University College London after being awarded a highly competitive Medical Research Council PhD scholarship by the National Institute of Medical Research.[1][5] During her PhD, she began researching T Cell function with Rose Zamoyska, specifically investigating the localisation of cell surface receptors and intracellular proximal TCR signaling molecules in CD8 T cells during memory formation.[1]
Career
[edit]Research
[edit]Between completing her bachelor's degree and starting her PhD, Borger worked as a Molecular Biologist for GRMicro (2002 - 2003), and for Arrow Therapeutics as a Drug Discovery Scientist (2003 - 2006).[6]
Borger undertook her postdoctoral training on a Medical Research Council fellowship from 2010–2016 at the University of Edinburgh with Prof Zamoyska, investigating the role of Caveolin-1 in T cell cholesterol homeostasis, integrin signaling and exosome complex biogenesis.[1]
In 2016, Borger took a position in the Central Clinical School at Monash University as a senior postdoctoral researcher. In this position, Borger has been researching gamma delta T cell development, activation and function as potential targets of therapeutic intervention of lung disorders.[1][4] Additionally, Borger was awarded a CASS Foundation Medicine/Science grant to research the design of novel CAR-T therapy approaches in the lung using novel intracellular checkpoint blockade targets.[1][7] In 2017, she was awarded the IgV Best Postdoctoral Speaker Award by the Australia and New Zealand Society of Immunology, the Best Presentation Prize by the Immunology Alfred Hospital.,[8][9] and in 2018 the Best Speaker Award at the International Conference on Innate Lymphoid Cells in Japan.[10]
In 2019, Borger became lecturer and course-coordinator of graduate studies at Monash University. In this role, she created a master's course in translational research.[1] In the same year, Borger was the first recipient of the Margaret Baird Women in Immunology Award by the Australia and New Zealand Society for Immunology.[11][12]
Science communication and gender equality advocacy
[edit]Borger is an advocate for gender equality in STEM and science communicator. She has written articles for Women's Agenda,[13] The Conversation,[6] Women in STEMM Australia,[14] and SoapboxScience.[15] In 2018, Jessica Borger was awarded the Veski Inspiring women STEM Sidebyside scholarship.[16][1][4]
From 2018, Borger has sat on both the A+ Gender Equity committee of the A+ Alfred Research Alliance at the Alfred Hospital and the Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) committee at the Central Clinical School at Monash University.[17][1] The GEDI committee conducted a survey to investigate problems and concerns with GEDI issues in the school[18] and ran a survey in 2020 to understand the impact of COVID-19 on researchers with a gendered lens applied.[19] In 2020 Borger, as a member of the Equity in Medical Research Alliance (EMRA) was involved in the creation of a position paper to mitigate the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical research workforce.[20]
Publications
[edit]Borger's published works include:
- The Influence of Innate Lymphoid Cells and Unconventional T Cells in Chronic Inflammatory Lung Disease (2019)[21]
- Schistosoma mansoni-Derived Lipids in Extracellular Vesicles: Potential Agonists for Eosinophilic Tissue Repair (2019)[22]
- Caveolin-1 Influences LFA-1 Redistribution upon TCR Stimulation in CD8 T Cells (2017)[23]
- Proximity of TCR and its CD8 coreceptor controls sensitivity of T cells (2013)[24]
- Murine cytomegalovirus encodes a miR-27 inhibitor disguised as a target (2012)[25]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Jessica Borger". Monash University. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ "Jessica Borger". STEM Women. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ "Immunology & Cell Biology". Wiley Online Library. doi:10.1111/(ISSN)1440-1711. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ a b c "Loop | Jessica Borger". loop.frontiersin.org. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ a b Watton, Isla (29 May 2019). "You are a unique product of your own passions, drive and opportunities: Meet Jessica Borger". SoapboxScience. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ a b "Jessica Borger". The Conversation. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Jessica Borger". Monash Lens. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Best Postdoctoral Speaker Award". Monash University. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Best Presentation Prize". Monash University. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Best Speaker Award - The 3rd International Conference on Innate Lymphoid Cells, Tokyo, Japan". Monash University. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ "Margaret Baird Women in Immunology Lectureship". Monash University. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ Media, Gloss Creative. "ASI 2019 – Awards and Special Honours". www.immunology.org.au. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ "Dr Jessica Borger, Author at Women's Agenda". Women's Agenda. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ Australia, Women in STEMM (5 December 2018). "Once you've left can you really break back in?". Women in STEMM Australia. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ Watton, Isla (29 May 2019). "We need to return the 'S' to STEM with the very important 'women' prefix". SoapboxScience. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ "2018 Leading the Way Participants | veski". www.veski.org.au. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Central Clinical School News Blog: Eye on GEDI: Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at CCS". Central Clinical School News Blog. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Conference Committee". Lorne Infection & Immunity 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
- ^ "Thanks to COVID, there's a gender disconnect in discovery". Monash Lens. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ "WiSPP". WiSPP. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
- ^ Borger, Jessica G.; Lau, Maverick; Hibbs, Margaret L. (2019). "The Influence of Innate Lymphoid Cells and Unconventional T Cells in Chronic Inflammatory Lung Disease". Frontiers in Immunology. 10: 1597. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.01597. ISSN 1664-3224. PMC 6637857. PMID 31354734.
- ^ Coakley, Gillian; Wright, Mark D.; Borger, Jessica G. (2019). "Schistosoma mansoni-Derived Lipids in Extracellular Vesicles: Potential Agonists for Eosinophillic Tissue Repair". Frontiers in Immunology. 10: 1010. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2019.01010. ISSN 1664-3224. PMC 6514238. PMID 31134080.
- ^ Borger, Jessica G.; Morrison, Vicky L.; Filby, Andrew; Garcia, Celine; Uotila, Liisa M.; Simbari, Fabio; Fagerholm, Susanna C.; Zamoyska, Rose (1 August 2017). "Caveolin-1 Influences LFA-1 Redistribution upon TCR Stimulation in CD8 T Cells". Journal of Immunology. 199 (3): 874–884. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1700431. ISSN 1550-6606. PMC 5523581. PMID 28637901.
- ^ Borger, Jessica G.; Zamoyska, Rose; Gakamsky, Dmitry M. (January 2014). "Proximity of TCR and its CD8 coreceptor controls sensitivity of T cells". Immunology Letters. 157 (1–2): 16–22. doi:10.1016/j.imlet.2013.11.005. ISSN 0165-2478. PMC 3931270. PMID 24263053.
- ^ Libri, Valentina; Helwak, Aleksandra; Miesen, Pascal; Santhakumar, Diwakar; Borger, Jessica G.; Kudla, Grzegorz; Grey, Finn; Tollervey, David; Buck, Amy H. (3 January 2012). "Murine cytomegalovirus encodes a miR-27 inhibitor disguised as a target". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (1): 279–284. Bibcode:2012PNAS..109..279L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1114204109. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3252920. PMID 22184245.