Helen Lazear
@lazearlab.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology
UNC Chapel Hill
Viral pathogenesis, arboviruses, virus-host interactions, antiviral immunity
www.lazearlab.org
UNC Chapel Hill
Viral pathogenesis, arboviruses, virus-host interactions, antiviral immunity
www.lazearlab.org
Congratulations to Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social who did a great job on her qualifying exam and is our lab's newest PhD Candidate! Celeste is studying HSV neurobiology and defining the neuronal mechanisms that govern latency and reactivation.
November 7, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Congratulations to Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social who did a great job on her qualifying exam and is our lab's newest PhD Candidate! Celeste is studying HSV neurobiology and defining the neuronal mechanisms that govern latency and reactivation.
Congratulations to Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social who did a great job on her qualifying exam and is officially a PhD candidate! Abbie is using genetically diverse mice to understand the host factors that control susceptibility to La Crosse virus and other neuroinvasive arboviruses.
October 2, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Congratulations to Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social who did a great job on her qualifying exam and is officially a PhD candidate! Abbie is using genetically diverse mice to understand the host factors that control susceptibility to La Crosse virus and other neuroinvasive arboviruses.
Jesse Lazear died of yellow fever Sept. 25, 1900. Along with other research by the Yellow Fever Commission, his demonstration that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes provided the basis for efforts to control this devastating disease.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_W...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_W...
September 25, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Jesse Lazear died of yellow fever Sept. 25, 1900. Along with other research by the Yellow Fever Commission, his demonstration that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes provided the basis for efforts to control this devastating disease.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_W...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_W...
So proud of Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social for being selected as a 2025 Gilliam Fellow! Thrilled to be joining the Gilliam community @hhmi.org
www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...
www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...
August 8, 2025 at 5:56 PM
So proud of Celeste Robles @celeste-robles.bsky.social for being selected as a 2025 Gilliam Fellow! Thrilled to be joining the Gilliam community @hhmi.org
www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...
www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...
The Lazear Lab at #ASV2025 - great to see all these folks present their cool work on so many different viruses! @amersocvirology.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @joelrc.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @joelrc.bsky.social
July 21, 2025 at 1:59 AM
The Lazear Lab at #ASV2025 - great to see all these folks present their cool work on so many different viruses! @amersocvirology.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @joelrc.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @joelrc.bsky.social
UNC Virologists at #ASV2025
Thanks @amersocvirology.bsky.social for a great meeting!
@joelrc.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @mdedloff.bsky.social @ascone.bsky.social @dapontediaz.bsky.social
Thanks @amersocvirology.bsky.social for a great meeting!
@joelrc.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @mdedloff.bsky.social @ascone.bsky.social @dapontediaz.bsky.social
July 20, 2025 at 10:56 PM
UNC Virologists at #ASV2025
Thanks @amersocvirology.bsky.social for a great meeting!
@joelrc.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @mdedloff.bsky.social @ascone.bsky.social @dapontediaz.bsky.social
Thanks @amersocvirology.bsky.social for a great meeting!
@joelrc.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @mdedloff.bsky.social @ascone.bsky.social @dapontediaz.bsky.social
A big welcome to Alex Sakai and Taras Chicz who are joining the Lazear Lab and the M&I PhD program! Alex will use genetically diverse mice to study neuroinvasive flaviviruses and Taras will investigate how RNA changes affect Zika virus pathogenesis. We are lucky to have them on our team!
June 25, 2025 at 7:51 PM
A big welcome to Alex Sakai and Taras Chicz who are joining the Lazear Lab and the M&I PhD program! Alex will use genetically diverse mice to study neuroinvasive flaviviruses and Taras will investigate how RNA changes affect Zika virus pathogenesis. We are lucky to have them on our team!
So many accomplishments to celebrate as we close out this academic year! I'm so lucky to get to work with these awesome folks in the Lazear Lab!
@mdedloff.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @viralvibes365.bsky.social @monicareece.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @viralvibes365.bsky.social @monicareece.bsky.social
May 6, 2025 at 7:15 PM
So many accomplishments to celebrate as we close out this academic year! I'm so lucky to get to work with these awesome folks in the Lazear Lab!
@mdedloff.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @viralvibes365.bsky.social @monicareece.bsky.social
@mdedloff.bsky.social @nigelmgo.bsky.social @abbieweight.bsky.social @viralvibes365.bsky.social @monicareece.bsky.social
VPI study section posted in the Federal Register (3/10-3/11 in-person meeting moved to 4/23-4/24 on zoom)
March 7, 2025 at 2:29 AM
VPI study section posted in the Federal Register (3/10-3/11 in-person meeting moved to 4/23-4/24 on zoom)
Happy Holidays from the Lazear Lab! 🎄
December 20, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Happy Holidays from the Lazear Lab! 🎄
We are excited to use this model to study immune responses that control recurrent disease and to investigate the neurobiology of HSV infection!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
October 15, 2024 at 3:46 PM
We are excited to use this model to study immune responses that control recurrent disease and to investigate the neurobiology of HSV infection!
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
It has been challenging to study HSV reactivation using mouse models, but Drake Philip @dtp-phd.bsky.social and Nigel Goins @nigelmgo.bsky.social show how fur plucking provides an easy and tractable way to induce HSV reactivation from latently infected mice:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
October 15, 2024 at 3:44 PM
It has been challenging to study HSV reactivation using mouse models, but Drake Philip @dtp-phd.bsky.social and Nigel Goins @nigelmgo.bsky.social show how fur plucking provides an easy and tractable way to induce HSV reactivation from latently infected mice:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Congratulations to Mikhala for passing her qualifying exam and advancing to PhD Candidacy! Stay tuned for all the cool things she's going to discover about no-known-vector flaviviruses!
October 14, 2024 at 8:32 PM
Congratulations to Mikhala for passing her qualifying exam and advancing to PhD Candidacy! Stay tuned for all the cool things she's going to discover about no-known-vector flaviviruses!
New from Margaret @mdedloff.bsky.social in Annual Review of Virology: Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Effects of Interferon Lambda at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
September 30, 2024 at 1:05 PM
New from Margaret @mdedloff.bsky.social in Annual Review of Virology: Antiviral and Immunomodulatory Effects of Interferon Lambda at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Drake @dtp-phd.bsky.social investigated skin-specific effects of IFN-L, discovering an immunomodulatory mechanism by which IFN-L signals in both neutrophils and keratinocytes to limit the severity of HSV skin lesions. For more details check out his paper in mBio:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
May 29, 2024 at 10:17 PM
Drake @dtp-phd.bsky.social investigated skin-specific effects of IFN-L, discovering an immunomodulatory mechanism by which IFN-L signals in both neutrophils and keratinocytes to limit the severity of HSV skin lesions. For more details check out his paper in mBio:
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...
Congrats to Lazear Lab student Drake Philip @dtp-phd.bsky.social who received the 2024 Manire Award, presented each year to "an outstanding M&I graduate student who is judged to have carried out the most significant and impressive research project during his or her career at UNC".
May 29, 2024 at 10:09 PM
Congrats to Lazear Lab student Drake Philip @dtp-phd.bsky.social who received the 2024 Manire Award, presented each year to "an outstanding M&I graduate student who is judged to have carried out the most significant and impressive research project during his or her career at UNC".
We welcomed a new class to the UNC Microbiology & Immunology PhD program, with Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social and Celeste Robles joining the Lazear Lab. They received gifts from the 3rd year class, donned their new lab coats, and recited their graduate student oath. We're glad you're here!
May 29, 2024 at 8:40 PM
We welcomed a new class to the UNC Microbiology & Immunology PhD program, with Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social and Celeste Robles joining the Lazear Lab. They received gifts from the 3rd year class, donned their new lab coats, and recited their graduate student oath. We're glad you're here!
Abbie will be studying arbovirus pathogenesis and how host genetics affects the outcome of infection.
Celeste will be studying how neuronal stimuli affect HSV latency and reactivation and how hormonal status affects susceptibility to HSV infection.
Look out for cool virology research to come!
Celeste will be studying how neuronal stimuli affect HSV latency and reactivation and how hormonal status affects susceptibility to HSV infection.
Look out for cool virology research to come!
May 29, 2024 at 12:12 PM
Abbie will be studying arbovirus pathogenesis and how host genetics affects the outcome of infection.
Celeste will be studying how neuronal stimuli affect HSV latency and reactivation and how hormonal status affects susceptibility to HSV infection.
Look out for cool virology research to come!
Celeste will be studying how neuronal stimuli affect HSV latency and reactivation and how hormonal status affects susceptibility to HSV infection.
Look out for cool virology research to come!
We are so fortunate to have grad students Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social and Celeste Robles joining the Lazear Lab and the UNC M&I PhD program!
May 29, 2024 at 12:09 PM
We are so fortunate to have grad students Abbie Weight @abbieweight.bsky.social and Celeste Robles joining the Lazear Lab and the UNC M&I PhD program!
Plaque assay petunias
May 10, 2024 at 1:22 PM
Plaque assay petunias