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Jillian Hurst

Assistant Professor in Pediatrics
Pediatrics, Children's Health Discovery Institute
203 Research Drive, MSRB1, Room 233A, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Early life exposure to and colonization with microbes has a profound influence on the education of the immune system and susceptibility to viral and bacterial infections later in life. My research is focused on the influence of the upper respiratory microbiome on the development of recurrent respiratory infections, including acute otitis media (AOM), the leading cause of antibiotic prescriptions and healthcare consultations among children. Importantly, some children develop recurrent infections that are thought to be linked to dysbiosis of the nasopharyngeal microbiome. My overarching goals are to identify alterations in the upper respiratory microbiome associated with AOM and to elucidate host factors and exposures that predispose some children to the development of recurrent AOM episodes.

Children's Health & Discovery Initiative:
The prenatal period, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, represent critical time periods of human development that include more developmental milestones than any other period of the lifespan. Conditions during these developmental windows – including biological, social, economic, health, and environmental factors – have a profound impact on lifelong health. The Children’s Health and Discovery Initiative (CHDI) was founded on the hypothesis that interventions early in life will improve population health across the lifespan. To this end, the overarching goal of the CHDI is to create a robust coalition of multidisciplinary investigators and a pipeline of infrastructure, data, and research projects focused on developing innovative approaches to identifying and modulating early life factors that impact lifelong health and well-being.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor in Pediatrics · 2020 - Present Pediatrics, Children's Health Discovery Institute, Pediatrics
Member of the Duke Human Vaccine Institute · 2024 - Present Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Institutes and Centers

In the News


Published September 26, 2022
Better Maternal Health, Better Infant Health: Growing Up with Project HOPE 1000
Published July 16, 2021
Children With Mild or Asymptomatic COVID Have Strong Antibodies Months Later

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Recent Publications


Age-associated differences in mucosal and systemic host responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Journal Article Nat Commun · March 10, 2025 Age is among the strongest risk factors for severe outcomes from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here we describe upper respiratory tract (URT) and peripheral blood transcriptomes of 202 participants (age range of 1 week to 83 years), including 137 non-hospitalized ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Linking Electronic Health Record Prescribing Data and Pharmacy Dispensing Records to Identify Patient-Level Factors Associated With Psychotropic Medication Receipt: Retrospective Study.

Journal Article JMIR Med Inform · March 4, 2025 BACKGROUND: Pharmacoepidemiology studies using electronic health record (EHR) data typically rely on medication prescriptions to determine which patients have received a medication. However, such data do not affirmatively indicate whether these prescriptio ... Full text Link to item Cite

In utero human cytomegalovirus infection expands NK-like FcγRIII+CD8+ T cells that mediate Fc antibody functions.

Journal Article J Clin Invest · November 12, 2024 Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) profoundly impacts host T and NK cells across the lifespan, yet how this common congenital infection modulates developing fetal immune cell compartments remains underexplored. Using cord blood from neonates with and without con ... Full text Link to item Cite
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Recent Grants


Developing strategies to identify candidate individuals for early genetic therapies

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Clinical and host microbiome features in the development of acute otitis media

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2023 - 2028

Impact of Early-life Exposure to Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds (SVOCs) on Neonatal and Early Childhood Immune Function

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 2022 - 2027

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Education, Training & Certifications


University of Georgia · 2009 Ph.D.