ROCKVILLE, MD – The Biophysical Society is pleased to announce that Christopher O. Barnes, PhD, of Stanford University, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Early Independent Career Award. Barnes will be honored at the Society’s 69th Annual Meeting, being held in Los Angeles, California from February 15-19, 2025.

Barnes will be recognized as an outstanding young investigator who combines structural methods with in vivo approaches to translate knowledge of viral-host interactions into developing therapeutics and vaccines against zoonotic viruses.

“I am delighted that Christopher was selected to receive the inaugural Early Independent Career Award”, said BPS President Gabriela Popescu of the University of Buffalo. “His remarkable success in structure-guided approaches to the treatment of infectious disease, while still at an early stage in his career, sets a high bar of achievements for future awardees.”

About the Award – The Early Independent Career Award, new in 2025, recognizes a faculty member, independent investigator, or staff scientist at an academic institution, national research lab, or private research organization with six or fewer years of service who has made noteworthy contributions in biophysics research and service during their independence.

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The Biophysical Society, founded in 1958, is a professional, scientific society established to lead an innovative global community working at the interface of the physical and life sciences, across all levels of complexity, and to foster the dissemination of that knowledge. The Society promotes growth in this expanding field through its Annual Meeting, publications, and outreach activities. Its 7,000 members are located throughout the world, where they teach and conduct research in colleges, universities, laboratories, government agencies, and industry.