Dr. Jacobs joined the MSU faculty in January of 1997 to become the founding co-director of the Center for Computational Biology. She became Director of the Complex Biological Systems graduate training program in 1999. Upon its inception in July of 2000, she became the Chair of the Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience. She is an active research neuroscientist, focusing on the neural basis of behavior and sensory processing, using experimental and computational approaches. Her research program is currently funded through grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She has published many research articles in a variety of scientific journals, including the Journal of Neurophysiology, the Journal of Neuroscience, and Science.

Dr. Jacobs received her B.A. in Anatomy and Physiology at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1976. She received an M.S. in Physiology at the University of California, Davis, in 1979. Her Ph.D. was in Biology-Neurobiology from the State University of New York at Albany, N.Y., in 1984. Her thesis advisor was Dr. Rodney Murphey, and her research involved an analysis of the mechanisms underlying the development and functional organization of the cricket nervous system. After completing her thesis research, Dr. Jacobs was awarded an NIH extramural fellowship to do postdoctoral research at U.C. Berkeley. Her sponsor was Dr. Janis Weeks.

Dr. Jacobs subsequently became an adjunct assistant professor at Berkeley in the Department of Zoology (and, upon reorganization of the Biological Sciences departments at Berkeley, in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.) During her time at Berkeley, Dr. Jacobs worked on a variety of neurobiological problems ranging from the mechanisms underlying neural development to sensory coding. Since receiving her doctorate, she has had continuous funding from a variety of agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

In addition to carrying on an active research program, Dr. Jacobs has served on several National advisory committees, panels, and workshop organizational committees, including:

• Member, Biological Sciences Advisory Committee, National Science Foundation, 1996-2000.
• Member, Computational Neuroscience Advisory Board, NSF Supercomputing Centers, 1993 - 1997.
• Member, U.S.- E.C. Neuroinformatics Steering Committee, 1996-present.
• External Advisory Board Member, Human Brain Project, P20, "Neural Plasticity: Data and Computational Structures" July 1995- 2000.
• Panel Member, Database Activities in the Biological Sciences, NSF April 1996.
• Database Activities Panel of Experts, National Science Foundation, July 1994.
• Scientific Organizer and Director, NSF Workshops on Resource Database of Identified Neurons for Neuroscience Research, April 28-30 and June 23-25, 1994, Washington, D.C.
• Symposium co-Chair, Microscopy Society of America: "Advances in Functional Imaging of the Nervous System", Kansas City, Mo. Aug. 1995
• Symposium Co-Organizer, International Society for Neuroethology: "Databases for Neurobiologists", Cambridge, U.K. September 1995
• Symposium Chair, International Society for Neuroethology: "New Vistas in Small Systems", Cambridge, U.K. September, 1995
• Invited Participant, NSF Workshop on Machinery for Predictability of Complex Systems, Sept. 1996
• Program Committee, International Congress for Neuroethology 1996-1998