Research Faculty Spotlight: Joy Gibson, MD, PhD
While on the path to becoming a doctor, Joy Gibson, MD, PhD, realized that there were questions she could only answer by pursuing research. “I was a biology major and was interested in medicine, but I also loved asking questions and thinking about how to go beyond what’s already known,” she explains. This creativity and curiosity initially influenced Dr. Gibson to want to become a horror novelist before the medical experiences of her relatives led her to pursue a career in medicine. And that’s when research piqued her interest.
“One of my teachers suggested to me that I should pursue a PhD, and then someone told me about the MD/PhD path. I realized that in addition to being a doctor, I could answer medical questions through research.”
Dr. Gibson completed an MD/PhD program focused on virology, during which she conducted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) research for her PhD, and continued to be active in bench research in virology throughout her Pediatrics residency. When she learned that Michael Neely, MD, MSc, FCP, Chief of CHLA’s Division of Infectious Diseases, was looking for someone to manage bench research in his Laboratory of Applied Pharmacokinetics and Bioinformatics, Dr. Gibson jumped at the opportunity.
“Now I can work on research that is applicable to the patients I’m seeing,” Dr. Gibson says. Drs. Gibson and Neely, along with Elizabeth Burgener, MD, in the Division of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, are the founding co-Principal Investigators of the newly formed INSPIRE (INnovative Synergistic Pediatric Infection REsearch) group, focused on optimizing therapy for serious or life-threatening infections in children using a bench-to-bedside and back again approach.
Dr. Gibson focuses on infections that affect patients with cystic fibrosis, which is also her clinical area of focus. “The specific bacteria that I study is called Mycobacterium abscessus and it is probably one of the most challenging cystic fibrosis pathogens.” Dr. Gibson investigates antibiotic dosing strategies, combinations of different antibiotics, inhaled nitric oxide, and other techniques to improve management of infection from the bacteria. Drs. Gibson and Neely work closely together using the hollow fiber infection model, a system of tubing, pumps and fibers that mimics the human body, to study the effects of antibiotics in pediatric patients. “I represent the wet lab side of things, which includes anything dealing with pipettes and working on a bench, and Dr. Neely handles the dry lab side of things, which involves data analysis, modelling, and contextualizing our data,” Dr. Gibson explains. CHLA is one of the few facilities in the world to use the hollow fiber infection model, and the only one of those with a focus on pediatrics.
When she’s not in the lab, Dr. Gibson likes to visit amusement parks, lead her daughter’s Girl Scouts troop, hike, and camp.
