IMAGE: Provided Anand was awarded LB2C funding for his project titled “Targeting Virus Breathing Hotspots for Antibody Discovery.” Anand looks for vulnerabilities on a virus that could be tapped to generate antibodies for use in antiviral therapies. He is particularly interested in understanding the structural changes of viral surface proteins as the virus dissembles and enters human host cells. These structural changes — part of a process called viral breathing — could reveal critical locations — called epitopes — where antibodies can bind to the virus. Anand will then work with collaborators to test the effectiveness of antibodies designed to target certain epitopes that, for example, occur across a variety of virus variants or are particularly accessible. This approach, which uniquely seeks to merge the biophysical insights of viral breathing with targeted antibody discovery, preemptively identifies new antibodies and could thus greatly advance viral pandemic preparedness.