Asfar Lathif Salaudeen
I am a third-year Ph.D. student at UBC. I did my undergraduate in biotechnology in India and moved to Vancouver for graduate school. My research interests include synthetic biology, gene regulation and data science.
I am a third-year Ph.D. student at UBC. I did my undergraduate in biotechnology in India and moved to Vancouver for graduate school. My research interests include synthetic biology, gene regulation and data science.
I’m currently a graduate student in Biophysics at the University of Michigan. Originally, I’m from Argentina where I studied Physics and engaged in several research opportunities in synthetic biology. I’m passionate about working towards a more sustainable future by partnering with Biology.
I am a first-generation college graduate, now pursuing a Ph.D. at Rice University, from a Hispanic heritage that was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I entered Rice University as part of the Biochemistry and Cell Biology program and now have the privilege of being a part of the Ajo-Franklin, primarily focusing on furthering the field of Engineered Living Materials. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, caring for my corgi Mocha, and trying the wide diversity of food Houston offers.
Natalia is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As an undergraduate at UC Santa Cruz, she was an NIH IMSD fellow (Initiative for Maximizing Student Development) and recipient of many awards including the UCSC Tony Fink Memorial Student Award and Koret Undergraduate Research Scholarship. Natalia is also a 2019 NIH Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) and a 2020 Rackham Merit Fellow. Natalia is passionate about DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) efforts and her research interest broadly includes the functionality between cargo and bacterial nano compartments and their applications in synthetic biology and food systems.
I am a class of 2026 PhD student in the chemical engineering department at Northwestern University. My research primarily focuses on cell-free synthetic biology with applications in biosensing. Prior to joining Northwestern University, I worked for three years as a chemical process engineer.
Wilson Sinclair is a Postdoctoral Scholar at EBRC working in the Security focus area. His primary interests are synthetic biology investment, biosecurity policy, building a robust bioeconomy, and microbiome engineering. He is passionate about breaking down barriers between research disciplines and building bridges between experts in engineering biology and social sciences across academia, industry, government, and advocacy to solve complex global problems.
Prior to joining EBRC, Wilson was a Science Policy Intern at the NIH Office of Science Policy where he supported short- and long-term development of programs relating to bioethics, data science, and clinical research policy. His graduate research utilized bioorthogonal chemistry to study host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis for therapeutic discovery. Over nearly a decade at the bench, he has applied his broad skills as a chemical biologist to several projects across the fields of glycobiology, synthetic chemistry, cancer immunology, and epitranscriptomics.
Wilson holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University. He also has a B.A. from Haverford College majoring in Chemistry with a Biochemistry concentration and Spanish minor. He is a Chicago native and enjoys spending his free time trying new restaurants, solving puzzles, and exploring museums.
I grew up in Hangzhou, China and went on to pursue my B.Sc. degree in Chemistry at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where I developed chemical tools for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease under the guidance of Professor Mi Hee Lim. In 2013, I started graduate school at UC Berkeley and joined Professor Omar Yaghi’s group where my research interest focused on the design and synthesis of crystalline woven covalent organic frameworks with exceptional mechanical properties. Since 2018, I have been a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Jay Keasling’s lab working on biosynthesis of terpene-derived molecules in yeast.
I am in my fifth year of PhD research under the advisory of Dr. Sirius Li at North Carolina State University in the Department of Plant Biology. The focus of my research is understanding the genetic mechanisms that lead to detrimental growth effects in lignin bioengineered plants. While my main project is largely focused on basic science, I am very interested in the industrial applications, regulation, and deployment of bioengineered energy and bioproduct producing crops.