Faculty

Helen Y Chu

Professor, Epidemiology
Professor, Medicine - Allergy and Infectious Dis.
Program Lead, Infectious Disease, Brotman Baty Institute, Medicine - Allergy and Infectious Dis.
Term Professorship, Medicine - Allergy and Infectious Dis.
Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Health


Education

MPH Epidemiology, University of Washington, 2012
MD Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 2005
BA Cornell University, 2001

Research Areas

Research Interests

Dr. Chu's research is focused on maternal immunization, in particular vaccines against influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). She studies the virologic and immunologic correlates of protection from respiratory viral infections in pregnant women, infants, and older adults, and performs clinical trials of vaccine candidates in both domestic and international sites, including Nepal and Bangladesh. She has developed immunologic assays to study transplacental transfer and decay kinetics of RSV antibody, and nosocomial and household transmission of respiratory viruses by genotypic analysis and molecular sequencing.

Recent Publications (PubMed)

Modeling the Health Impact of Discontinuing COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy in the US.
(2025 Sep 29)
JAMA Pediatr
Lo NC, Maldonado Y, Chu HY, Hotez PJ, Kiang MV
Correlates of risk of respiratory syncytial virus disease: a prospective cohort study.
(2025 Sep 26)
Nat Commun 16(1): 8490
Frivold C, Cox SN, Starita L, Babu TM, Hoffman KL, Carone M, Lockwood CM, Kuntz JL, Mularski RA, Varga A, Han PD, Reed J, Piliper EA, Mohamed Bakhash SAK, Greninger AL, Clark E, Stone J, Grindstaff S, Boisvert CL, Yetz N, Lo NK, Hatchie TL, Marshall G, Wolock CJ, Feldstein LR, Weil AA, Englund JA, Naleway AL, Chu HY
Improving the evidence base for COVID-19 vaccines.
(2025 Sep 4)
Nat Med
Chu HY, Janes H, Carone M, Gilbert PB, Plotkin S
Spike mutations that affect the function and antigenicity of recent KP.3.1.1-like SARS-CoV-2 variants.
(2025 Sep 30)
bioRxiv
Dadonaite B, Harari S, Larsen BB, Kampman L, Harteloo A, Elias-Warren A, Chu HY, Bloom JD
Use of Clesrovimab for Prevention of Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Associated Lower Respiratory Tract Infections in Infants: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices - United States, 2025.
(2025 Aug 28)
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 74(32): 508-514
Moulia DL, Link-Gelles R, Chu HY, Jamieson D, Brooks O, Meyer S, Weintraub ES, Shay DK, Prill MM, Thomas ES, Hutton D, Ortega-Sanchez IR, MacNeil A, McMorrow ML, Jones JM
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