In 1977, Harvard Medical School researcher Stephen C. Harrison first determined the structure of an intact virus particle, elucidating viral mechanisms. Since then, Harrison has made important contributions to structural biology, most notably by determining and analyzing the structures of viruses and viral proteins, by crystallographic analysis of protein/DNA complexes, and by structural studies of protein-kinase switching mechanisms.

The initiator of high-resolution virus crystallography, he has moved from his early work on tomato bushy stunt virus ( to the study of more complex human pathogens, including the capsid of human papillomavirus, the envelope of dengue virus, and several components of HIV. He has also turned some his research attention to even more complex assemblies, such as clathrin coated vesicles.

The laboratory’s current focus is on the study of double-stranded RNA viruses to help determine how nonenveloped viruses (viruses without lipid membranes of their own) enter cells.