Helen Lazear

@lazearlab.bsky.social

1504 Followers 321 Following

Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology UNC Chapel Hill Viral pathogenesis, arboviruses, virus-host interactions, antiviral immunity www.lazearlab.org

The Lazear Lab at the 2026 American Society for Virology conference in Minneapolis. Back row: Cormac, Mikhala, Taras. Front row: Helen, Celeste, Alex, Abbie, Joel. We are standing on the steps outside the gym where the poster sessions were held, wearing our conference badges and smiling. Celeste and Alex are wearing official ASV2026 conference T-shirts.
The new class of 2nd-year Microbiology & Immunology graduate students wearing their custom M&I lab coats. The coats are white and embroidered with the M&I logo and the student's name. Zach, Nigel, Inhwan, Ryan, Mischa, Sky, Sezin, and Autumn are standing in a row outside on a beautiful day with a perfect Carolina blue sky.
On the left, proud PI Helen Lazear stands next to the new Dr. Dedloff. On the right, Margaret stands on a stage next to the screen displaying the title of her thesis, "Viral congenital infections and a protective role for interferon lambda at the maternal-fetal interface". The slide includes an H&E image of a gravid mouse uterus containing 3 fetuses with their associated placentas. Margaret is smiling and happy because this public defense is a celebration of all of her hard work and accomplishments as a graduate student. At her defense, Margaret also shared new work with rubella virus...stay tuned for more!
UNC students and postdocs at the 2026 Southeastern Regional Virology Conference in Atlanta! They are 16 of them gathered in 3 rows, wearing big smiles and their conference name badges.
Lazear Lab at the 2026 Southeastern Regional Virology Conference in Atlanta. They are standing together, wearing conference name badges. They look happy and proud of all the great presentations from the lab.
Welcome to UNC Mini Med School 2026!
 We would like to extend a warm welcome to the 2026 edition of Mini Med School. The goal of Mini Med School is to provide the local community with a closer look at how physicians tackle disease, along with a glimpse of the research being conducted on these topics at the UNC School of Medicine. This free monthly lecture series is hosted by the UNC MD/PhD Program and covers various health topics in an accessible format. Each session is held from 6–7:30 pm (EST). We hope you will join us this upcoming year! This year's sessions and dates are: • Tuesday, January 13 - Glaucoma & Diabetic Retinopathy • Tuesday, February 10 - Gut Health • Tuesday, March 10 - Dermatology & Skin Cancer • Tuesday, April 14 - Health Policy & the Healthcare System • **Thursday, May 14 - Immune Response & Immunotherapies Sessions will be hosted in a hybrid format. In-person attendance at the Chapel Hill Public Library is strongly encouraged, but a Zoom option will also be available. (Zoom links will be sent on the day of each session to registered participants.) Attendees can register for sessions through the following form (link) or from our website https://www.med.unc.edu/minimedschool/. Please contact us at minimedicalschool [at] med.unc.edu if you have any questions!
Celeste Robles, fresh from passing her qualifying exam, is standing in lab wearing a black shirt, white pants, and a big smile. She's giving a thumbs up and holding an inflatable T-Rex with a sign saying "Congratulations Candidate!!!". The T-Rex is wearing a small party hat.
Brand-new PhD candidate Abbie Weight is standing in lab wearing a yellow sweater and a big well-deserved smile. She is holding an inflatable T-Rex with signs saying "Congratulations Candidate!!!" and "Yay Abbie!". She also is holding a stuffed alpaca wearing a tiny party hat.
Portrait of Jesse Lazear, photo of an Aedes aegypti mosquito, image of Jesse Lazear’s fever chart. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_William_Lazear CDC Public Health Image Library ID#9257 Fever chart for Jesse W. Lazear, September 19, 1900, Box-folder 3:47, Philip S. Hench Walter Reed Yellow Fever Collection 1806-1995, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia
2025 Gilliam Fellows program announcement highlighting graduate student Celeste Robles from UNC Chapel Hill (advisor Helen Lazear)
Group photo of the Lazear Lab at ASV 2025 in Montreal. We are wearing our name badges and everyone is smiling because our presentations are done and went great!
Group photo of UNC virologists attending the 2025 American Society for Virology conference in Montreal. They are standing in front of a brightly colored mural, wearing their conference name badges, with bright smiles because of all the virology.
New UNC Microbiology & Immunology grad students Alex and Taras stand by a lab bench. They look confident and ready to tackle important questions about flavivirus pathogenesis.
3 people holding signs at the No Kings protest in Chapel Hill. The signs say "No Kings" "Pro Science Pro Immigrant Pro Democracy" "Y'all means everyone"
Group photo of the Lazear Lab outside
Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity (VPI) study section meeting 4/23-4/24 posted in the Federal Register.
Lazear Lab members in front of a Christmas Tree
Philip et al. 2024 mSphere. A fur plucking model to study herpes simplex virus reactivation and recurrent disease
3 photos of the same mouse showing depilated flank skin with a dermatome lesion during acute HSV infection, immediately post replucking 35 days later (no lesion), and 2 days post-replucking (lesion in the same dermatome as acute disease)
Mikhala holding an inflatable dinosaur with a note that reads "Congratulations Candidate!"
Dedloff 2024 Ann Rev Virol Fig 2: diagram summarizing the antiviral and immunomodulatory effects of IFN-L at the maternal-fetal interface
Philip et al 2024 mBio
2024 Manire Award recipient Drake Philip
UNC M&I Program Welcome Event and White Coat Ceremony
Abbie and Celeste
Lazear Lab group photo