Of Note

Erica Ollmann Saphire Wins Antiviral Research Award

Erica Ollmann Saphire, professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), has received the William Prusoff Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research (ISAR). The award recognizes outstanding dedication and excellence and the potential of future contributions by a scientist under the age of 45.

Saphire received the award, which is endowed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, during ISAR’s recent 28^th International Conference on Antiviral Research in Rome, Italy. The award’s namesake, William H. Prusoff, was a pharmacologist at the Yale School of Medicine who, with a colleague, developed an effective component in the first generation of drug cocktails used to treat AIDS. Following the award presentation, Saphire spoke on “Remodel, Repurpose, Rearrange: Essential Forms and Functions Created by the Hidden Viral Proteome.”

Saphire studies hemorrhagic fever viruses, which include some of the most lethal viruses know to humankind. Her lab combines x-ray crystallography, biochemistry and immunology to analyze proteins that play key roles in the pathogenesis of Ebola and other viruses; structures of these proteins provide templates for vaccine design and enable rapid responses to newly emerging forms of the viruses.

For additional information on her research, see the News & Views feature, “Outsmarting Viruses: A Profile of Erica Ollmann Saphire,” and her laboratory website.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu

saphire
Professor Erica Ollmann Saphire has won the William Prusoff Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Antiviral Research.

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Of Note

Erica Ollmann Saphire Wins Antiviral Research Award