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Dr Connie Jackaman

Senior Lecturer
Curtin Medical School

Immunoageing Laboratory  Lead

"My work aims to uncover how immune function evolves over time and use that knowledge to improve outcomes for conditions such as cancer, dementia and muscle disorders. Ultimately, I hope to help people age with better health, resilience and quality of life."  

Dr Connie Jackaman is an immunologist investigating how the immune system changes as we age and how this contributes to diseases such as cancer, dementia and muscle degeneration. She leads the Immunoageing Laboratory at Curtin University, where her team focuses on the role of inflammatory cells, particularly macrophages and neutrophils, in the ageing process and age-related disorders.

Dr Jackaman has received funding from national and international organisations including the NHMRC, Cancer Council WA, Dementia Australia and the JAIN Foundation. Her projects focus on immune dysregulation in ageing, muscle diseases, cancer immunotherapy and inflammation in cognitive decline. She established Curtin’s flow cytometry and imaging facility and contributed to a successful ARC LIEF grant for advanced microscopy.

Dr Jackaman coordinates Advanced Immunology and Frontiers in Immunology units and teaches across immunology, cancer biology and pathology. She currently supervise two PhD students. Have supervised five PhD, three Masters and twenty one Honours students (sixteen with First Class Honours).

She is an active member of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI). She previously served as Honorary Secretary and Executive Committee Member, WA Branch Councillor and co-chaired the 2018 ASI Annual Scientific Meeting. Dr Jackaman is an Executive Committee Member for the Australian Inflammation centre and the Australian Biology of Ageing Network.

Her laboratory specialises in:

 
  • Australian and New Zealand Society for Immunology (ASI) 2011-current.
  • WA branch councillor 2016-2018
  • ASI annual scientific meeting 2018 co-chair
  • ASI Honorary Secretary and Executive committee member 2020-current
  • Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) 2009-current.
  • 2022 - 2023, JAIN Foundation. Extending insight into immune disturbances in dysferlinopathy: implications for the mechanistic basis of pathogenesis and targeted therapies. CIA: C Jackaman, CIB: MD Grounds, CIC: HG Radley.
  • 2021 - 2022, JAIN Foundation. Systematic analysis of immune cell populations in muscles and tissues throughout the lifespan of dysferlinopathy. CIA: C Jackaman, CIB: MD Grounds, CIC: HG Radley.
  • 2019 - 2021, Dementia Australia Research Foundation. Investigating the impact of acute injury-induced inflammation on the brain in the elderly. CIA: C Jackaman, AI: H Crabb, AI: G Verdile, AI: D Dye.
  • 2019 - 2020, Cancer Council WA project grant (In the name of Jill Tilly). Investigating immune dysfunction during ageing and the impact on cancer immunotherapy. CIA: C Jackaman, CIB: DJ Nelson, CIC: R Carlessi, AI: FJ Pixley, AI: K Munyard.
  • 2016 - 2019, NHMRC project grant. Reprogramming macrophage function in the elderly to rescue impaired inflammatory responses to muscle injury. CIA: C Jackaman, CIB: H Crabb, CIC: D Dye, AI: DJ Nelson, AI: C Mousley, AI: MD Grounds.
  • 2015, Cancer Council WA project grant. Restoring T cell function in the elderly by targeting tumour-associated macrophages. CIA: DJ Nelson, CIB: C Jackaman, CIC: MD Grounds, CID: H Crabb.
  • 2021: Mark Liveris Faculty of Health Sciences, MCR presentation runner up award
  • 2017: Best Short Talk, International Biology of Ageing II, Singapore
  • 2014: Curtin Research Award for Excellence: Research Support Award
  • 2013: Aging Cell article, Faculty of Health Sciences publication award
    Jackaman et al. Aging Cell. 2013, 12(3):345-57
  • Understand how ageing impacts on the immune system
  • Determining the impact of age-related immune dysfunction on:-
    - healthy ageing
    - cancer development, cancer treatment and cachexia
    - muscle injury and repair processes
    - cognitive function

EMAIL: Connie.Jackaman@curtin.edu.au
TEL: +61 (08) 9266 9713
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Research Focus

Dr Connie Jackaman leads the Immunoageing Laboratory at Curtin University, where her research investigates how the immune system changes with age and how this contributes to diseases such as cancer, dementia and musculoskeletal disorders. Her work centres on the role of key inflammatory cells, particularly macrophages and neutrophils, in driving age-related immune dysfunction and chronic inflammation.

Dr Jackaman’s research aims to understand and target age-related immune dysfunction to improve health outcomes across the lifespan. Her work explores:

 

Research Team

Dr Hannah Radley

Senior Lecturer

Dr Audrey Chan

Visiting/Adjunct

Dr Jessica Gaff

Adjunct Research Fellow

Mei Proctor

Honours Student

Alana Celenza

PhD Student

Publications

Dr Connie Jackaman's research has been widley published by many esteemed Journals, both nationally and internationally.

Lloyd, E. M., R. C. Crew, V. R. Haynes, R. B. White, P. J. Mark, C. Jackaman, J. M. Papadimitriou, G. J. Pinniger, R. M. Murphy, M. J. Watt, and 1 more contributors. 2024. "Pilot investigations into the mechanistic basis for adverse effects of glucocorticoids in dysferlinopathy." Skeletal Muscle 14 (1)
Lloyd, E. M., M. S. Hepburn, J. Li, A. Mowla, J. H. Jeong, Y. Hwang, Y. S. Choi, C. Jackaman, B. F. Kennedy, and M. D. Grounds. 2024. "Multimodal three-dimensional characterization of murine skeletal muscle micro-scale elasticity, structure, and composition: Impact of dysferlinopathy, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and age on three hind-limb muscles." Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials 160

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