Faculty

Helen Y Chu

Professor, Epidemiology
Professor, Medicine - Allergy and Infectious Dis.
Adjunct Professor, Global Health
Term Professorship, Medicine - Allergy and Infectious Dis.


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)

Effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and hybrid immunity in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptomatic COVID-19 among adults in the United States.
(2025 Jan 8)
J Infect Dis
Feldstein LR, Ruffin J, Wiegand RE, Borkowf CB, James-Gist J, Babu TM, Briggs-Hagen M, Chappell J, Chu HY, Englund JA, Kuntz JL, Lauring AS, Lo N, Carone M, Lockwood C, Martin ET, Midgley CM, Monto AS, Naleway AL, Ogilvie T, Saydah S, Schmidt MA, Schmitz JE, Smith N, Sohn I, Starita L, Talbot HK, Weil AA, Grijalva CG
SARS-CoV-2 Diversity and Transmission on a University Campus across Two Academic Years during the Pandemic.
(2025 Jan 3)
Clin Chem 71(1): 192-202
Casto AM, Paredes MI, Bennett JC, Luiten KG, Han PD, Gamboa LS, McDermot E, Gottlieb GS, Acker Z, Lo NK, McDonald D, McCaffrey KM, Figgins MD, Lockwood CM, Shendure J, Uyeki TM, Starita LM, Bedford T, Chu HY, Weil AA
Protection from COVID-19 vaccination and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection among children aged 6 months - 4 years, United States, September 2022-April 2023.
(2024 Dec 5)
J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc
Feldstein LR, Ruffin J, Wiegand R, Grant L, Babu TM, Briggs-Hagen M, Burgess JL, Caban-Martinez AJ, Chu HY, Ellingson KD, Englund JA, Hegmann KT, Jeddy Z, Kuntz J, Lauring AS, Lutrick K, Martin ET, Mathenge C, Meece J, Midgley CM, Monto AS, Naleway AL, Newes-Adeyi G, Odame-Bamfo L, Olsho LE, Phillips AL, Rai RP, Saydah S, Smith N, Tyner H, Vaughan M, Weil AA, Yoon SK, Britton A, Gaglani M
Delineating the functional activity of antibodies with cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and related sarbecoviruses.
(2024 Oct)
PLoS Pathog 20(10): e1012650
Ruiz F, Foreman WB, Lilly M, Baharani VA, Depierreux DM, Chohan V, Taylor AL, Guenthoer J, Ralph D, Matsen Iv FA, Chu HY, Bieniasz PD, Côté M, Starr TN, Overbaugh J
Clinical and Genomic Epidemiology of Coxsackievirus A21 and Enterovirus D68 in Homeless Shelters, King County, Washington, USA, 2019-2021.
(2024 Nov)
Emerg Infect Dis 30(11): 2250-2260
Cox SN, Casto AM, Franko NM, Chow EJ, Han PD, Gamboa L, Pfau B, Xie H, Kong K, Sereewit J, Rolfes MA, Mosites E, Uyeki TM, Greninger AL, Carone M, Shim MM, Bedford T, Shendure J, Boeckh M, Englund JA, Starita LM, Roychoudhury P, Chu HY
Show complete publication list