The Rubins lab studies poxviruses, a class that includes smallpox, monkeypox, and vaccinia (the virus from which the classic smallpox vaccine is developed). Probing the strategies that these viruses employ to sidestep and weaken host defenses, Rubins seeks insights about their mechanisms of viral pathogenesis as well as the processes of immunity they highlight. Lab research on poxvirus pathogenesis focuses on interaction of vaccinia with host cell mRNA transcription, translation and decay. Her work investigating these pathogens balances basic lab science and clinically oriented biomedical research. In one project, she conducts field studies of monkeypox in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She also works with U.S. Army researchers to develop therapeutics and vaccines for Smallpox and Ebola virus.