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)

Human Infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N5) Virus.
(2026 May 7)
N Engl J Med
Lite TL, Goya S, Davis ML, Morris AE, Bryson-Cahn C, Vengerovsky A, Corpuz CG, Nunley BE, Maenza JR, Hawn TR, Luks AM, Lynch JB, Uyeki TM, Chu HY, Greninger AL, Sung CC
Influenza household transmission and genomic diversity in the United States: A prospective cohort study, 2022-2024.
(2026 May)
J Infect 92(5): 106748
Cox SN, Bennett JC, Casto AM, Hoffman KL, Frivold C, Carone M, Acker Z, Babu TM, Boisvert CL, Ehmen B, Englund JA, Grindstaff S, Han P, Hatchie TL, Kuntz JL, Lockwood CM, McCaffrey KM, Mularski RA, Regelbrugge L, Reich S, Schmidt MA, Smith N, Starita L, Stone J, Varga A, Weil AA, Naleway AL, Chu HY
Comparison of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)-Specific Antibody Durability in Pregnant/Postpartum Individuals and Older Adults After RSV Vaccination.
(2026 Mar 26)
J Infect Dis
Kachikis A, Frivold C, Pike M, Reed JC, Stolarczuk JE, McVey K, Clark E, Mauer C, McAteer S, Saidac IM, Harteloo A, Carone M, Marshall G, Eckert LO, Greninger AL, Englund JA, Chu HY
Repeated COVID-19 vaccine boosters elicit variant-specific memory B cells in humans.
(2026 Mar 24)
Cell Rep 45(3): 117052
Tortorici MA, Sprouse KR, Addetia A, Brown JT, Lee J, Stewart C, Merz B, Harteloo A, Elias-Warren A, Chu HY, Veesler D
Re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 is associated with increased antibody breadth and potency against diverse sarbecovirus strains.
(2026 Apr 8)
mBio 17(4): e0361225
Lilly M, Ruiz F, Foreman WB, Chohan V, Guenthoer J, Depierreux D, Baharani VA, Ralph D, Harteloo A, Chu HY, Bieniasz PD, Starr TN, Overbaugh J
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