Headshot of Dr. Helen Chu
Associate Professor
Medicine, Allergy and Infectious Disease
Adjunct Associate Professor
Epidemiology
Adjunct Associate Professor
Global Health
Related Links: 
Chu Lab
Chu Lab Website

Faculty Information

Biography
Education & Training: 
MPH in Epidemiology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
2012
MD Medicine
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, NC
2005
BA
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
2001
Contact
Email: 
helenchu@uw.edu
Research & Clinical Interests
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.

Publications
Publications: 

Chu HY, Steinhoff MC, Magaret A, Zaman K, Roy E, Langdon G, Formica MA, Walsh EE, Englund JA. Respiratory syncytial virus transplacental antibody transfer and kinetics in mother-infant pairs in Bangladesh. J Infect Dis. 2014 Nov 15;210(10):1582-9. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiu316. Epub 2014 Jun 5. PubMed PMID: 24903663; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4334795.

Lenahan JL, Englund JA, Katz J, Kuypers J, Wald A, Magaret A, Tielsch JM, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Shrestha L, Steinhoff MC, Chu HY. Human Metapneumovirus and Other Respiratory Viral Infections during Pregnancy and Birth, Nepal. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017 Aug;23(8). doi: 10.3201/eid2308.161358. PubMed PMID: 28726613; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5547777.

Mazur NI, Horsley NM, Englund JA, Nederend M, Magaret A, Kumar A, Jacobino SR, de Haan CAM, Khatry SK, LeClerq SC, Steinhoff MC, Tielsch JM, Katz J, Graham BS, Bont LJ, Leusen JHW, Chu HY. Breast Milk Prefusion F Immunoglobulin G as a Correlate of Protection Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Acute Respiratory Illness. J Infect Dis. 2019 Jan 1;219(1):59-67. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiy477. PubMed PMID: 30107412; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6284547.

Murray AF, Englund JA, Kuypers J, Tielsch JM, Katz J, Khatry SK, Leclerq SC, Chu HY. Infant pneumococcal carriage during influenza, RSV and hMPV respiratory illness within a maternal influenza immunization trial. J Infect Dis. 2019 May 6;. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiz212. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31056697.

Boonyaratanakornkit J, Ekici S, Magaret A, Gustafson K, Scott E, Haglund M, Kuypers J, Pergamit R, Lynch J, Chu HY. Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Homeless Populations, Washington, USA. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019 Jul;25(7):1408-1411. doi: 10.3201/eid2507.181261. PubMed PMID: 31211675; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6590761.