Associate Professor
Canada Research Chair in Breath Science and Technology (Tier 1)
Office: CHBE 423
Email: jane.hill@ubc.ca
Website: hilllab.chbe.ubc.ca
Research Summary
Biotechnology, breath analysis and transcriptomics, respiratory infections – viral, bacterial, and fungal
Education
Yale University, 2006, Ph.D.
Yale University, 2002, M.S.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1996, M.S.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1995, B.S.
Research interests + projects
We apply some of the most sophisticated analytical tools available to determine the applications and limits of ‘omics, particularly breath analysis and transcriptomics, working with collaborators from around the world. In our basic science work, we are keen to understand the origins and consequences of the volatile molecules we find in breath and the transcripts in blood. A particular focus is on respiratory infections – viral, bacterial, and fungal – however, we are also interested other human and animal diseases. Our work over the past several years shows great promise, particularly for bacterial infections.
Awards and honours
The Power List: The Top 100, The Analytical Scientist , 2019
Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) , 2019
Anton Ammon Prize, International Association of Breath Research (IABR) , 2018
Scholarly and professional activities + affiliations
Chair-elect for the International Association for Breath Research (IABR)
Lead Human Breath Atlas
American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
Society for Applied Microbiology (sFAM)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP)
American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS)
Selected publications + presentations
Rees C, Nasir M, Smolinska A, Lewis A, Kane K, Kossmann S, Sezer O, Zucchi P, Doi Y, Hirsch E, and Hill JE, 2018 Detection of high-risk carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae isolates using volatile molecular profiles Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-31543-x
Marco Beccaria, Flavio A. Franchina, Mavra Nasir, Theodore Mellors, Giorgia Purcaro, Hill JE. 2018 Investigation of mycobacteria fatty acid profile using different ionization energies in GC–MS Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-018-1421-z
Bobak C., Titus A., Hill JE, 2019 Comparison of common machine learning models for classification of tuberculosis using transcriptional biomarkers from integrated datasets. Applied Soft Computing Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asoc.2018.10.005
Beccaria M, Bobak C, Maitshotlo B, Mellors T, Purcaro G, Franchina F, Rees C, Nasir M, Black A, Hill JE. 2019 Exhaled human breath analysis in active pulmonary tuberculosis diagnostics by comprehensive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and chemometric techniques Journal of Breath Research. https://doi.org/10.1088/1752-7163/aae80e
Bobak CA, Kang L, Workman L, Bateman L, Khan, MS, Prins, M, May L, Franchina FA, Baard C, Nicol MP, Zar HJ, Hill JE 2021 Breath can discriminate tuberculosis from other lower respiratory illnesses in children Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-80970-w