Interferon lambda signaling to maternal dendritic cells protects against congenital Zika virus infection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.25.701624v1

I'm so proud of this work and how it all came together!

The American Society for Virology (ASV) is dedicated to advancing knowledge of viruses and the diseases they cause. ASV does not support the scaling back of the childhood vaccine schedule recently announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. See our statement attached.

Calling all rising juniors & seniors: Interested in biological or biomedical research? Applications for our ’26 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program are now open! Nine weeks, hands-on research, & mentorship from some of the nation’s top scientists — learn more: bit.ly/CechFellows

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 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...

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.

As RFK testifies in front of the Senate today, ASV wants to emphasize the risks posed by his decisions related to virus outbreaks and the public health of Americans. Together with our partner organizations, we call for RFK's resignation: asm.org/press-releas...

Excited to see a new cohort of @hhmi.org Gilliam Fellows. I have seen the impact this program has had and am glad its continuing. Special congrats to UNC's Celeste Robles and her advisor Helen Lazear, continuing a long tradition of amazing Gilliam Fellows here

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...

Big congrats to Celeste, so happy and proud of you 💗 happy to see a fellow IMSDer and friend from UNC win 🥳🎉

SO PROUD & EXCITED TO SEE ANOTHER UNC BBSPER JOIN THE GILLIAM COMMUNITY! WELCOME! I REMEMBER MENTORING CELESTE FROM HER REU DAYS HERE AT UNC! LET’S GOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish you guys could've seen my jaw hit the floor when I got the email! So honored to be a part of the 2025 Gilliam Fellow cohort!! 😄

Congratulations 2025 Gilliam Fellows and Advisors! 🎉 The Gilliam Fellows Program launches promising PhD students into impactful scientific research careers while fostering inclusive training environments. Through this program, HHMI supports both graduate students and their faculty thesis advisors.

This is how our government has been corrupted: 1) Donors give huge sums to elect politicians to office. 2) Elected officials rewrite the rules in the donors' favor. 3) Donors make a huge profit. 4) Repeat. For the sake of democracy, we must get Big Money out of politics.

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

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