Christopher O. Barnes

Christopher O. Barnes is an Assistant Professor of Biology (and by courtesy, Structural Biology) at Stanford University and a Sarafan ChEM-H Institute Scholar. His research combines structural biology, immunology, and in vivo approaches to study viral-host interactions for therapeutic applications.

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA, BS, MA)
• University of Pittsburgh (PhD in Molecular Pharmacology)
• California Institute of Technology (Postdoctoral Research)

His work focuses on viral neutralization mechanisms, particularly for HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, using cryo-EM, crystallography, and antibody engineering. Recent projects include antigen reorientation strategies for universal influenza vaccines and structural analysis of RNA polymerase II catalysis.

His 15 most recent publications (2022-2025) span pan-coronavirus antibodies, vaccine delivery platforms, transcriptional machinery, and structural correlates of neutralization, reflecting his interdisciplinary expertise in virology and structural immunology.

• Rita Allen Foundation Scholar (2022)
• Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator (2021)
• HHMI Hanna Gray Fellow (2017)
• 2025 Biophysical Society Early Career Award

He advises PhD students in Biology, Biophysics, and Immunology programs, and leads the Barnes Laboratory, which investigates zoonotic virus immunogens, next-generation antibody therapeutics, and structural vaccine design since its establishment in 2021.