Jabs joined the Johns Hopkins University faculty in 1984 and became a professor of pediatric genetics and Director of the Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders. Her laboratory was responsible for the identification of the first human mutation in a
homeobox-containing gene, an important regulatory gene in development. Jabs went on to identify mutations in key genes responsible for craniofacial disorders, especially
craniosynostosis. She discovered that similar mutations in the same gene, fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 or
FGFR2, cause both
Jackson–Weiss syndrome and
Crouzon syndrome. Jabs started a database of clinical and genetic data for people with craniofacial disorders including those with
Möbius syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, to help identify the genetic root of the condition. Jabs joined the Mount Sinai medical school in 2007. She conducts collaborative genetic research on rare disorders and animal model systems to investigate the molecular mechanism and potential therapeutic strategies for these conditions. She is an active clinician seeing patients with birth defects. During her time at Johns Hopkins, she directed an international training program in collaboration with
Peking Union Medical College and
Peking University. At Mount Sinai, she runs a training program for predoctoral students on the integration of bioinformatics, statistics, and developmental biology. Jabs is an advisor to several parent support groups, including
Smile Train. She has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed publications, chapters, and reviews. ==References==