The contest came forth at a time when almost everyone is struggling with the changes accompanying the pandemic. Each of us are grappling with one or another grief and ‘hoping’ for something good to happen. This contest was a way for me to get out of my own grief and create something that would be a source of joy not only for me but may be someone else out there as well. And who better to dedicate this creation to other than our ‘Heroes of hope’, the health care workers at the frontline who are fighting the pandemic day in and day out, without any selfish motives. Putting their lives at risk, away from their families, I can’t even begin to imagine the agony they must be going through.

1. The central figure of the creation is a masked healthcare worker and all the components that make up the worker are molecules in our body that fight viral and bacterial infections, antibodies and components of complement system, namely IgA, IgG, IgM and Complement factors C3, H, C4A and B represented in the face, mask, neck and body of the worker. This is to represent that just as our body uses these molecules to fight an infection, the health care worker is fighting the deadly pandemic for the entire world and he/she may be our ‘antibody’ against the virus, so to say.
2. The mask also has actin which is known to have a rare combination of strength and sensitivity, being used in some of the most demanding structural activities in the body. This also represents the importance of wearing masks in these times not only to protect ourselves from the virus but others around us. I have also put a few ACE2 receptors embedded in the mask to show that these can be ‘buried’ or protected from viral infection with the proper use of face masks.
3. The virus particles shown on the outside have their nucleocapsid proteins arranged in symbol of ‘theta’, which is the Greek symbol of death representing the fatal powers of the virus. I am hoping with this creation, I am able to reach out to a broader audience with two messages. As the title of the creation ‘Heroes of hope’ suggests, we need to thank our healthcare workers big time for the contributions they are making to fight the deadly pandemic. Second, we need to be more vigilant about how we conduct ourselves so that we can keep each other safe during these tough times. Only then can we hope for a better future for the world today!