25 October 2011
Arthritis & Inflammation Group Leader, Dr Jacquie Harper, first became excited about science thanks to stream of an enthusiastic high school science teachers who set her on the road to a career in research. These teachers should be very proud of their former student, as Jacquie went on to study at Otago University where she completed both her undergraduate degree and her PhD. From there she undertook post-doctoral research at the prestigious National Institutes of Heath (NIH) in the USA.
Dr Harper is a long serving member of our staff, having come to the Malaghan Institute in 1999 as a Research Fellow ready to apply her skills in chemistry and biology to tackle the task of finding the anti-inflammatory components in bacteria . Only three years later she was heading her own team as Group Leader of the Arthritis & Inflammation research group.
Dr Harper says that her multi-disciplinary training allows her to combine a passion for understanding what drives inflammation in arthritis with developing new anti-inflammatory treatments for ameliorating disease.