At 17-years-old, Eric Chen won all three major science prizes – Intel, Google, and Siemens – for his research on new drugs designed to fight dangerous strains of the influenza virus. The emergence of new highly lethal influenza viruses such as H5N1 and H7N9 poses a grave threat to the world. Eric’s project aimed to discover novel influenza endonuclease inhibitors as leads for a new type of anti-flu medicine, effective against all influenza viruses including pandemic strains. By combining computer modeling and biological studies, he identified a number of novel, potent endonuclease inhibitors. He also performed comprehensive structural analysis, laying the groundwork for further design and optimization of the anti-flu drug candidates.

Eric is currently studying at Harvard University.