#SoCaltech: Christopher Barnes

"Much like everyone else, my wife and I are settling into our new normal, trying to balance work from home while staying engaged with our colleagues, negotiating academic job offers, and becoming educators for our two children. It is a challenge, but the camaraderie I've witnessed with everyone pulling together to make it work is amazing and inspiring. On top of that, as scientists we are all eager to get to work and provide a solution or some clarity to this pandemic. I'm lucky enough to lead the talented COVID-19 research team in Pamela Bjorkman's group, and through our collaborations all across the country, we hope to make a meaningful difference in this fight, a fight we will win."

Christopher Barnes is a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Pamela Bjorkman and a 2017 Hanna Gray Fellow. He and his colleagues are currently working in one of the few labs still open on campus (using social distancing and taking other necessary precautions) to develop detailed three-dimensional structures of antibodies bound to the novel coronavirus spikes, which could ultimately lead to antibody-based therapies.

#SoCaltech is an occasional series celebrating the diverse individuals who give Caltech its spirit of excellence, ambition, and ingenuity. Know someone we should profile? Send nominations to magazine@caltech.edu.