Babak Javid, PhD, MB BChir

Associate Professor

I am an infectious diseases physician-scientist. My research focuses on three questions with regards to why/how tuberculosis is the world's most successful (and deadly) bacterial pathogen:

(1) how does regulation of bacterial protein synthesis allow mycobacteria to adapt to hostile environments.
(2) what is the role and mechanism of antibody-mediated immunity to tuberculosis.
(3) what the molecular mechanisms that allow Mycobacterium tuberculosis to survive antibiotics -- necessitating months-long treatment regimens.

I am always excited to explore new collaborations and work with people who are curious and passionate about making cool new discoveries, that may even be useful!

Education

09/2011 - Postdoctoral training, Harvard Chan School of Public Health

09/2007 - Infectious Diseases Fellowship, Cambridge University Hospitals

PhD, 05/2006 - Immunobiology, University of Cambridge

04/2001 - Internal Medicine Residency, Hammersmith & University College Hospitals

MB BChir, 12/1997 - Medicine and Surgery, University of Cambridge Clinical School

BA, 06/1995 - Medical Sciences, Psychology & Neurobiology, University of Cambridge

Honors and Awards

Investigator, Wellcome Trust, 2017---
Young Immunologist of the Year, British Society for Immunology, 2003

Websites

Publications

Fazel S, Zhang L, Javid B, Brikell I, Chang Z. Harnessing Twitter data to survey public attention and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines in the UK. 2021. PMID: 34907201
Divangahi M, Javid B, Kaufmann E. 100 years of antibody solitude in TB. 2021. PMID: 34811545
Li YY, Cai RJ, Yang JY, Hendrickson TL, Xiang Y, Javid B. Clinically Relevant Mutations of Mycobacterial GatCAB Inform Regulation of Translational Fidelity. 2021. PMID: 34225495
Javid B, Bassler D, Bryant MB, Cevik M, Tufekci Z, Baral S. Should masks be worn outdoors? 2021. PMID: 33910914
Kalin A, Javid B, Knight M, Inada-Kim M, Greenhalgh T. Direct and indirect evidence of efficacy and safety of rapid exercise tests for exertional desaturation in Covid-19: a rapid systematic review. 2021. PMID: 33726854
Vijay S, Nhung HN, Bao NLH, Thu DDA, Trieu LPT, Phu NH, Thwaites GE, Javid B, Thuong NTT. Most-Probable-Number-Based Minimum Duration of Killing Assay for Determining the Spectrum of Rifampicin Susceptibility in Clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates. 2021. PMID: 33257450
Watson A, Li H, Ma B, Weiss R, Bendayan D, Abramovitz L, Ben-Shalom N, Mor M, Pinko E, Bar Oz M, Wang Z, Du F, Lu Y, Rybniker J, Dahan R, Huang H, Barkan D, Xiang Y, Javid B, Freund NT. Human antibodies targeting a Mycobacterium transporter protein mediate protection against tuberculosis. 2021. PMID: 33504803
Beaudry G, Zhong S, Whiting D, Javid B, Frater J, Fazel S. Managing outbreaks of highly contagious diseases in prisons: a systematic review. 2020. PMID: 33199278
Cai RJ, Su HW, Li YY, Javid B. Forward Genetics Reveals a gatC-gatA Fusion Polypeptide Causes Mistranslation and Rifampicin Tolerance in Mycobacterium smegmatis. 2020. PMID: 33072044
Chen YX, Xu ZY, Ge X, Sanyal S, Lu ZJ, Javid B. Selective translation by alternative bacterial ribosomes. 2020. PMID: 32723820
Chen Y, Sun T, Bi Z, Ni JQ, Pastor-Pareja JC, Javid B. Premature termination codon readthrough in Drosophila varies in a developmental and tissue-specific manner. 2020. PMID: 32444687
Wang BW, Zhu JH, Javid B. Clinically relevant mutations in mycobacterial LepA cause rifampicin-specific phenotypic resistance. 2020. PMID: 32439911
Javid B, Weekes MP, Matheson NJ. Covid-19: should the public wear face masks? 2020. PMID: 32273278
Zhang YW, Zhu JH, Wang ZQ, Wu Y, Meng X, Zheng X, Javid B. HspX promotes the polar localization of mycobacterial protein aggregates. 2019. PMID: 31601950
Wu J, Mu R, Sun M, Zhao N, Pan M, Li H, Dong Y, Sun Z, Bai J, Hu M, Nathan CF, Javid B, Liu G. Derivatives of Natural Product Agrimophol as Disruptors of Intrabacterial pH Homeostasis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 2019. PMID: 31016962
Chen YX, Pan M, Chen YM, Javid B. Measurement of Specific Mycobacterial Mistranslation Rates with Gain-of-function Reporter Systems. 2019. PMID: 31081825
Zhu JH, Wang BW, Pan M, Zeng YN, Rego H, Javid B. Rifampicin can induce antibiotic tolerance in mycobacteria via paradoxical changes in rpoB transcription. 2018. PMID: 30310059
Chen YX, Javid B. More than merely drug resistance. 2018. PMID: 30254331
Li H, Javid B. Antibodies and tuberculosis: finally coming of age? 2018. PMID: 29872140
Edwards D, Kent D, Lester C, Brown CS, Murphy ME, Brown NM, Sule O, Itani A, Chand M, Trindall A, Pearson C, Roddick I, Fry NK, Hoffmann J, Iyanger N, Kemp L, White J, Javid B, Ramsay ID, Zenner D, Ahmed A, Amirthalingam G, Salimee S, Litt D, Reacher M. Transmission of toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae by a fully immunised resident returning from a visit to West Africa, United Kingdom, 2017. 2018. PMID: 30280689
Chaudhuri S, Li L, Zimmerman M, Chen Y, Chen YX, Toosky MN, Gardner M, Pan M, Li YY, Kawaji Q, Zhu JH, Su HW, Martinot AJ, Rubin EJ, Dartois VA, Javid B. Kasugamycin potentiates rifampicin and limits emergence of resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by specifically decreasing mycobacterial mistranslation. 2018. PMID: 30152756
Li H, Wang XX, Wang B, Fu L, Liu G, Lu Y, Cao M, Huang H, Javid B. Latently and uninfected healthcare workers exposed to TB make protective antibodies against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 2017. PMID: 28438994
Li H, Wu M, Shi Y, Javid B. Over-Expression of the Mycobacterial Trehalose-Phosphate Phosphatase OtsB2 Results in a Defect in Macrophage Phagocytosis Associated with Increased Mycobacterial-Macrophage Adhesion. 2016. PMID: 27867377
Su HW, Zhu JH, Li H, Cai RJ, Ealand C, Wang X, Chen YX, Kayani MU, Zhu TF, Moradigaravand D, Huang H, Kana BD, Javid B. The essential mycobacterial amidotransferase GatCAB is a modulator of specific translational fidelity. 2016. PMID: 27564922
Long J, Basu Roy R, Zhang YJ, Antrobus R, Du Y, Smith DL, Weekes MP, Javid B. Plasma Membrane Profiling Reveals Upregulation of ABCA1 by Infected Macrophages Leading to Restriction of Mycobacterial Growth. 2016. PMID: 27462310
Moradigaravand D, Grandjean L, Martinez E, Li H, Zheng J, Coronel J, Moore D, Török ME, Sintchenko V, Huang H, Javid B, Parkhill J, Peacock SJ, Köser CU. dfrA thyA Double Deletion in para-Aminosalicylic Acid-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing Strains. 2016. PMID: 27021327
Javid B, Török ME. Whole-genome sequencing for the diagnosis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. 2016. PMID: 26738825
Leng T, Pan M, Xu X, Javid B. Translational misreading in Mycobacterium smegmatis increases in stationary phase. 2015. PMID: 26542220
Liu C, Kong C, Wu G, Zhu J, Javid B, Qian F. Uniform and amorphous rifampicin microspheres obtained by freezing induced LLPS during lyophilization. 2015. PMID: 26383842
Li H, Kayani Mu, Gu Y, Wang X, Zhu T, Duan H, Ma Y, Huang H, Javid B. Transmitted Extended-Spectrum Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Beijing, China, with Discordant Whole-Genome Sequencing Analysis Results. 2015. PMID: 26063862
Zhu JH, Javid B. Tuberculosis: hey there, lonely guy! 2015. PMID: 25794612
Köser CU, Javid B, Liddell K, Ellington MJ, Feuerriegel S, Niemann S, Brown NM, Burman WJ, Abubakar I, Ismail NA, Moore D, Peacock SJ, Török ME. Drug-resistance mechanisms and tuberculosis drugs. 2015. PMID: 25706840
Ribas de Pouplana L, Santos MA, Zhu JH, Farabaugh PJ, Javid B. Protein mistranslation: friend or foe? 2014. PMID: 25023410
Wang X, Li H, Jiang G, Zhao L, Ma Y, Javid B, Huang H. Prevalence and drug resistance of nontuberculous mycobacteria, northern China, 2008-2011. 2014. PMID: 24959839
Toosky M, Javid B. Novel diagnostics and therapeutics for drug-resistant tuberculosis. 2014. PMID: 24810849
Javid B, Sorrentino F, Toosky M, Zheng W, Pinkham JT, Jain N, Pan M, Deighan P, Rubin EJ. Mycobacterial mistranslation is necessary and sufficient for rifampicin phenotypic resistance. 2014. PMID: 24395793
Wong SY, Javid B, Addepalli B, Piszczek G, Strader MB, Limbach PA, Barry CE. Functional role of methylation of G518 of the 16S rRNA 530 loop by GidB in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 2013. PMID: 24100503
La Rosa V, Poce G, Canseco JO, Buroni S, Pasca MR, Biava M, Raju RM, Porretta GC, Alfonso S, Battilocchio C, Javid B, Sorrentino F, Ioerger TR, Sacchettini JC, Manetti F, Botta M, De Logu A, Rubin EJ, De Rossi E. MmpL3 is the cellular target of the antitubercular pyrrole derivative BM212. 2011. PMID: 22024828
Javid B, Derbyshire KM. Nanotubes: shaking hands, talking, or sharing? 2011. PMID: 21833333
Su Y, Blake-Palmer KG, Sorrell S, Javid B, Bowers K, Zhou A, Chang SH, Qamar S, Karet FE. Human H+ATPase a4 subunit mutations causing renal tubular acidosis reveal a role for interaction with phosphofructokinase-1. 2008. PMID: 18632794
Daly ML, Cartwright DJ, Lehner PJ, Javid B. A 58-year-old woman with abdominal symptoms and elevated C-reactive protein. 2008. PMID: 18597553
Phuah CL, Javid B, Aliyu SH, Lever AM. A case of Mycoplasma hominis septic arthritis postpartum. 2007. PMID: 17892899
Javid B, MacAry PA, Lehner PJ. Structure and function: heat shock proteins and adaptive immunity. 2007. PMID: 17675458
Javid B, Aliyu SH, Save VE, Carmichael AJ, Lever AM. Schistosomal colonic polyposis in an HIV-positive man. 2007. PMID: 17255754
Javid B, MacAry PA, Oehlmann W, Singh M, Lehner PJ. Peptides complexed with the protein HSP70 generate efficient human cytolytic T-lymphocyte responses. 2004. PMID: 15270691
Watkins NA, Dafforn TR, Kuijpers M, Brown C, Javid B, Lehner PJ, Navarrete C, Ouwehand WH. Molecular studies of anti-HLA-A2 using light-chain shuffling: a structural model for HLA antibody binding. 2004. PMID: 15009806
MacAry PA, Javid B, Floto RA, Smith KG, Oehlmann W, Singh M, Lehner PJ. HSP70 peptide binding mutants separate antigen delivery from dendritic cell stimulation. 2004. PMID: 14738768
Moore DA, Lightstone L, Javid B, Friedland JS. High rates of tuberculosis in end-stage renal failure: the impact of international migration. 2002. PMID: 11749753