Hanna Alalam

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Hanna Alalam is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of molecular biology, antiviral drug discovery, and synthetic biology, with a particular focus on combating SARS-CoV-2. Alalam has made notable contributions to the development of innovative yeast-based screening platforms designed to identify inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (MPro), a critical viral enzyme and promising drug target. Their 2021 paper introduced a genetic trap system in yeast as an experimental platform to accelerate the search for COVID-19 antivirals, laying the groundwork for a more refined automated positive selection screen published in 2024. This follow-up study provided compelling evidence supporting boron-containing compounds as viable MPro inhibitors, representing a meaningful step forward in antiviral therapeutics. Together, these publications have garnered a combined five citations, reflecting early-stage but growing recognition within the field. Alalam's research is particularly valuable for its creative use of yeast genetics as a surrogate system, offering a scalable and cost-effective approach to drug screening that could accelerate the identification of treatments for COVID-19 and potentially other viral diseases in the future.