Helen Lazear

BWF Expands Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program to Support 14 Pre-Doctoral Scholars - Burroughs Wellcome Fund DURHAM, N.C. – The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is proud to announce the 2025 recipients of the Graduate Diversity Enrichment Program (GDEP)—fourteen outstanding pre-doctoral scientists whose work re...

Congratulations to the Burroughs Wellcome Fund GDEP awardees @bwfund.bsky.social, including Lazear Lab grad student Celeste Robles! @celeste-robles.bsky.social
www.bwfund.org/news/bwf-exp...

On an Arctic archipelago, frozen soil may preserve a hidden history of viruses Scientists are hunting for ancient RNA in Svalbard’s permafrost, hoping to shed light on the evolution of viral diseases

www.science.org/content/arti...

UNC football GM Michael Lombardi met with Saudi Arabia about potential investment

From our @brendanmarks.bsky.social, UNC confirmed that GM Michael Lombardi visited Saudi Arabia for a fundraising trip after being invited. www.nytimes.com/athletic/672...

New York Confirms State’s First Locally Acquired Case of Chikungunya

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/n...

Virology enthusiasts in Southeastern US, check out this virology conference in Atlanta!

Deafening Quiet from the Scientific Establishment Leaders are underestimating the risks of not fighting back

New from @jeremymberg.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern:
"Silence may protect an institution from becoming an early target, but history shows that it increases the likelihood that that institution (and many others) will be become targets over time."
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/deafening-...

I'm honored to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. As always, I extend my sincerest thanks to all my wonderful mentors, colleagues, collaborators, admins, and trainees who make this work possible. #MacFellow

Senior Director - Scientific Officer Primary Work Address: 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase, MD, 20815 Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) advances the disco...

Great Job - Great Colleagues - Great Science👍
Help us pick the next generation of @hhmi.org Investigators, Freeman Hrabowski Scholars, Hanna Gray Fellows, Gilliam Fellows
Relocation to DC is required, perfect for academic PIs looking for their next chapter
hhmi.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job...

UChicago Microbiology is searching for tenured or tenure-track faculty working in host-pathogens interactions, viral and bacterial pathogenesis, and emerging infectious diseases. Come join our vibrant Department! microbiology.uchicago.edu
Apply here apply.interfolio.com/174404

Save the date for our exciting Southeastern Virology Conference in 2026! Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Okay, there's a really cool reason for these groupings, based on evolution.

First, the "oh hi doggies" are almost invariably fruit or nectar eaters, relying on eyesight & smell to locate non-moving food. No sonar.

To the insect-eaters: there are two ways to emit 'sonar' pulses: nose or mouth.

The O'Neal Lab in @johnshopkinssph.bsky.social is hiring a Lab Manager to work on ticks and tick-borne diseases! You can apply here: jobs.jhu.edu/job-invite/1...

We’re back at it, looking for two teaching colleagues! unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...

🦠 "Social Virology at the Tri-Kingdom Interface in Birds and Mammals" 🐥

We have a new 4y (open to intl students) PhD project advertised through the NorthWestBio Doctoral Training Partnership (lnkd.in/ee8hRpN6 ) between QUBelfast and Lancaster on virus-bacterial interactions across vertebrates!

Job alert ‼️ UChicago Micro is hiring! Open to tenured/tenure track faculty at all levels in any area of microbiology. Come join our amazing and growing department. apply.interfolio.com/174404

I'm thrilled to announce I'll be joining the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology at the University of Florida in January 2026! My lab will study RNA virus-host interactions with a particular focus on the spatial regulation of viral replication and innate immune activation. genoyerlab.com

The Bite That Changed My Life <em>My Favorite Thing Is Monsters</em>, a stunning work told from the perspective of a 10-year-old's diary, is based in Chicago in the 1960s.

www.chicagomag.com/chicago-maga...

First, Emil Ferris Was Paralyzed. Then Her Book Got Lost at Sea. (Published 2017)

www.nytimes.com/2017/02/17/a...

'My Favorite Thing Is Monsters' Graphic Novelist Emil Ferris : Fresh Air After contracting West Nile virus and becoming temporarily paralyzed, Chicago illustrator Emil Ferris had to relearn how to draw. She says that experience was key to the publication of 'My Favorite Th...

www.npr.org/2017/03/30/5...

Emil Ferris Pays Homage to Horror Comics With ‘My Favorite Thing Is Monsters’ (Gift Article) In her two-volume classic, “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters,” Emil Ferris explores a girl’s journey to understand the world, and herself.

Emil Ferris created "My Favorite Thing is Monsters" after being paralyzed by West Nile virus

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Save the date: SERVC 2026 is happening Apr 24-26!
Join us for the 18th Southeastern Regional Virology Conference at the Emory Hotel and Conference Center in Atlanta.
More details: tarheels.live/servc

Exclusive: ex-CDC director talks about why she was fired “I would never do that, as a scientist,” Susan Monarez says of being asked to approve changes to vaccine recommendations without knowing the details.

EXCLUSIVE: In her first interview all year, Susan Monarez, CDC director for only 29 days, tells me why Trump/RFK fired her and where this is all headed.

The CDC director is an “inherently political position, but that doesn’t mean that it has to be politically compromised”, she tells @nature.com.

UMass Amherst Microbiology is hiring a tenure-track virologist. Come work with me! 🦠🧪
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...

We are currently in the process of recruiting a technician. 🥼🐭🔬

If you know anyone with enthusiasm to learn new skills and stamina to hear me go on and on about IFNs, please have them reach out to me for more details!

Kennedy Fires N.I.H. Scientist Who Filed Whistle-Blower Complaint

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/h...

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.

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.

About Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research & Education (SPIRE) SPIRE’s Mission: 1) To provide scholars with both high quality research training and the opportunity to develop research based teaching skills that will inspire students across the sciences 2) To promote effective teaching and research partnerships between research intensive institutions and partner institutions with a large population of underrepresented students The four major components of the SPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program include: Research Teaching Professional Development Additional Opportunities

Cool Postdoc opportunity alert! UNC SPIRE (Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research & Education)-it provides scholars with both high quality research training & the opportunity to develop research based teaching skills that will inspire students across the sciences 1/n
spire.unc.edu/program-info/

UNC Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics Our mission is to perform transformative biochemical and biophysical research in an inclusive and stimulating training environment.

The link for a junior tenure-track position with UNC-CH Biochemistry and Biophysics is now live. Learn about the search here www.med.unc.edu/biochem/join..., then apply here unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307... Help us inspire tomorrow’s discoveries by decoding the molecular basis of life!

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

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...

One of the most "Taking one for the team" moments ever. 🧪🦟