Congratulations to Megan Meuser of the Xiong lab, who has been awarded a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for her project, “Conserved Structural Intermediates in Viral Maturation: Mechanisms and Vulnerabilities of the HIV-1 Hybrid Capsid Lattice.” Building on the lab’s recent discovery of a hybrid capsid lattice that marks a key intermediate in HIV-1 maturation, Megan’s work will explore how this structure is conserved across retroviruses, how it governs the accuracy of viral maturation, and how it might be targeted for new antiviral therapies. The award will support her transition to research independence as she builds a future program centered on how dynamic viral structures regulate replication and open new avenues for antiviral intervention.