Rate My Professor Helen Billman- Jacobe

Helen Billman-Jacobe is an Associate Professor and Honorary Principal Fellow in the Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, at the University of Melbourne. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor's Degree with Honours from Monash University. Her academic career at the University of Melbourne spans over two decades, with appointments in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences and previously the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Billman-Jacobe's research specializes in microbiology, focusing on mycobacterial infections such as Johne's disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, antimicrobial stewardship in veterinary practices, resistance gene profiles in animals, and animal health issues in production species like pigs and cattle. She has led projects including the Provision of a National Reference Laboratory for Johne's Disease, New Products for Snail and Slug Control using biological agents, and Clarifying the Biology of Pest Snails. Her work extends to the Asia-Pacific Centre for Animal Health, addressing diagnostics, Salmonella genomics, and faecal microbiota analysis in foals.

Billman-Jacobe has published extensively, with key papers such as 'Modification of glycopeptidolipids by an O-methyltransferase of Mycobacterium smegmatis' (2002, Microbiology), 'PimE Is a Polyprenol-phosphate-mannose-dependent Mannosyltransferase Specific for Mycobacterial Lipomannan' (2006, Journal of Biological Chemistry), 'Biosynthesis of mycobacterial phosphatidylinositol mannosides' (1999), 'Faecal microbiota and antimicrobial resistance gene profiles of healthy foals' (2020, Equine Veterinary Journal), and 'Meeting the Capstone Challenge in Postgraduate Food Science Education' (2017, Journal of Food Science Education). Her scholarship has resulted in an h-index of 38 and over 3,600 citations. She received the Selby Research Award in 2000 from the Selby Scientific Foundation. Additionally, she co-authored 'Breaking New Ground: Biographies of women agricultural science students, University of Melbourne 1942-1965' (with Ann Westmore), which won the 2020 Victorian Community History Award. Billman-Jacobe has taught courses including Molecular Microbiology Techniques, Experimental Microbiology, and Food Microbiology and Safety, contributing to postgraduate education and workforce development in antimicrobial stewardship.