While DNA analysis tells us the order of the amino acids in a protein, it’s much harder to predict its three-dimensional shape which is vital for understanding its function, production and interactions. In 2020, the AI program ‘AlphaFold’ was released. This program can predict the structures of proteins with high accuracy, fuelling a new revolution across many fields of biomedical research, and winning its creators a Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The Society is delighted to congratulate Dr Christopher Draper-Joyce, the 2021 recipient of the Phillip Law Postdoctoral Award, and the first to be awarded in the new category of Biomedical and Health Sciences. Christopher’s postdoctoral work extends his analytical and molecular pharmacology skillset into the field of structural biology, shedding new light on the molecular mechanisms of drug-receptor action.