An Austin based scientist has received a prestigious award for his research into how viruses infect us, and how to stop or slow them. Jason McLellan is structural biologist at The University of Texas at Austin and the winner of the MacArthur Fellowship, generally known as the "genius grant."

The five-year grant gives winners $800,000 stipends that the recipients can choose to use it however they'd like. The fellows have proven that they know how to handle resources to get results; the MacArthur Foundation describes them as "talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction."

McLellan is a professor in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry. Much of his early career work focused on RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), which is common in young children and elderly people. According to the American Lung Association, it is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants.

The scientist used a process called structure-based design to learn about a "shape-shifting protein" on the surface of RSV, which then helped determine what could be done to stop it. As a result, the release says, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved RSV vaccines produced by GSK, Pfizer and Moderna. What he found also helped other scientists learn about using monoclonal antibodies against RSV.

All that later led McLellan to work on coronaviruses, such as SARS, MERS, and of course, COVID-19. His work contributed to the vaccines developed by Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, Novavax, and more. The release cites a study published in the British medical journal The Lancet that said such vaccines have prevented tens of millions of deaths.

“I’m extremely honored to be chosen to join this prestigious group of scholars, scientists, teachers and artists,” McLellan said in the release. “I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to all the mentors, collaborators and students and fellows who have contributed to my success. None of this happens in a vacuum — science is a team effort.”

“Jason McLellan embodies scientific excellence and innovative problem solving,” said David Vanden Bout, dean of UT’s College of Natural Sciences. “He is both a thoughtful and collaborative fellow researcher to people who know him well and a source of inspiration to people who have never met him but who have benefited from his research. Fueled by a spirit of public service, he accomplishes what many people enter science to do: help people live longer, healthier lives through discoveries in their labs.”

This is a banner year for McLellan, a first-generation college student. He's won several prestigious awards, but the MacArthur Fellowship is the most recognizable outside of the sciences. In 2025 he was also inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for the same scientific contributions.