Angelin Mary Philip, PhD candidate in Genomics and Precision Medicine, Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS) won a Student Research Achievement Award (SRAA) for her work at the Biophysical Society’s 67th Annual Meeting.

Philip received the award in the Theory and Computational Subgroup for her research project, titled “The Unique Q493R Mutation Drives Interfacial Interactions in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant S1-RBD:ACE2-Complex,” which provided significant mechanistic insights that could aid in understanding the impact of mutations in the protein in the evolution of the virus and COVID-19 epidemiology.

She also got the chance to meet Ardem Patapoutian, 2021 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, and fellow researchers at the Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of biophysicists in the world. Over 5,000 attendees gathered for this year’s edition, featuring approximately 4,000 abstracts programmed into poster and platform sessions.