Lauren Stern

Dr. Lauren Stern is an Associate Lecturer at the School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health. Her research focuses on immune responses to viral infections, particularly cytomegalovirus (CMV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. She investigates mechanisms of viral reactivation, immune cell subset dynamics, and cytokine/chemokine networks in transplant patients.

Her work utilizes mass cytometry and immunoprofiling techniques to characterize immune reconstitution and identify biomarkers associated with viral control. Key areas include understanding MAIT cell function, T-cell subset recovery, and host-pathogen interactions in immunocompromised patients.

Dr. Stern collaborates with teams at the Charles Perkins Centre and has published extensively on CMV latency, cytokine patterns during reactivation, and the role of galectin-9 in viral restriction. She holds no listed awards but contributes to high-impact journals in immunology and virology.