Dr. Naveen Vankadari received the 2022 FAOBMB fellowship and honorarium award to give an oral presentation at the 29th CNBMB/FAOBMB conference held in Shenzhen, China in October 2022.

He is currently a research fellow at the University of Melbourne. Naveen's current research is primarily focused on key events in human infection. In particular, structural and functional studies on viral and bacterial proteins involved in infection that have challenged human immunity. This has significant implications for understanding disease progression in humans and provides hints on how to control it. His primary research technical areas include cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), X-ray crystallography, protein biochemistry, clinical trials, computational biology, and biophysical techniques to decipher their functional significance for enhancing their physiological role. His current research has a major focus on unravelling the entry landscape of SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses.

This year’s Custom Science Award Winner is Professor Mark Hampton, from the University of Otago, Christchurch. Mark is a Research Professor at UoOC, and since 2016 Mark has been the Director of the Centre for Free Radical Research (CFRR) and Deputy HOD of the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science. Mark has an illustrious track record of success in research, teaching, service and outreach—a worthy recipient who we look forward to hearing him speak about his research at ComBio2022. Find out more about his research here!