Devin Camenares

My career dedication to biotechnology education and the growth of the bioeconomy is best exemplified by my involvement with iGEM – over a decade with roles spanning volunteer, team mentor, judge, and After-iGEM committee member. After earning my PhD in Molecular Biology from Stony Brook University in 2013, I taught biology and mentored teams at both Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn (New York City) and at Alma College, in rural-mid Michigan. Currently I am involved in growing the bioeconomy from a different vantage point as a Synthetic Biologist at the University of Dayton Research Institute. However, I am also continuing educational outreach and community building through the Great Lakes SynBio Association. GLSB is a nonprofit I co-founded that is dedicated to the growth of the bioeconomy in the Midwestern US. I was recently selected as a ‘Next Generation Leader’ at the ‘Spirit of Asilomar and Future of Biotechnology’ summit. I’ve seen firsthand both the awesome power biotechnology has to motivate students, as well as the waning participation and excellence the US has in iGEM first, and eventually the field writ large.

Apart from time in the lab or meetings (at UDRI or beyond), you can find me spending time with my wife and two daughters (9yo and 8mo). I am also an avid chess and tennis player, a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists, and an ardent Mets fan.

11th International Conference on Sustainable Development

European Center of Sustainable Development in collaboration with Canadian Institute of Technology will organize the 11th ICSD 2023 International Conference on Sustainable Development, with particular focus on Environmental, Economic and Socio-Cultural Sustainability.

The Conference theme : Creating a unified foundation for the Sustainable Development: Research, Practice and Education.

The 11th ICSD 2023 will be an excellent opportunity to share your ideas and research findings relevant to the Sustainability Science, through the European network of academics.

Papers will be published in Open Access EJSD Journal (Web of Science) and Proceedings..

This ambition will proceed in a multidisciplinary way across the various fields and perspectives, through which we can address the fundamental and related questions of Sustainable Development.

Formulation & Delivery US 2023

Join leaders, experts and researchers at West Coast’s scientific Hub – San Diego, delivering breakthrough research, technologies & connecting global pharma, biotech and academia for high-level discussions on the latest innovations in formulation, drug delivery & inhaled science.

Formulation & Delivery US 2023 features 2 outstanding programmes, bringing together key opinion leaders under one roof. The events provide a unique networking platform which consists of vital discussion topics in: Formulation & Drug Delivery and Inhalation & Respiratory Drug Delivery.

Speakers Include:
Arvinder Dhalla (Vice President, Clinical Development, Rani Therapeutics)
Charlie (Xiaolin) Tang (Director in Formulation Development, Regeneron)
Gian Luca Araldi (Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Avanti Biosciences)
Grace Yu (President & Chief Executive Officer, Trilogy Therapeutics)
Stephen Pham (Vice President, Product Development, Avalyn Pharma)
Theresa Scheuble (Head of Enterprise Design & Innovation, Johnson & Johnson)

Jorge Marchand

Dr. Jorge Marchand is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He did his PhD work at the University of California, Berkeley in the research group of Michelle Chang, where he worked on the discovery of biosynthetic pathways for making terminal alkyne amino acids. His postdoctoral work was done at Harvard Medical School with the George Church group. Here, he focused on engineering translation and developing new sequencing technologies to study tRNA. He now runs an independent research group that aims to utilize fundamental approaches in synthetic biology, chemical biology, biosynthesis, and biomolecular engineering for reprogramming life at the nucleic acid level.

Immuno US 2023

Discuss the latest strategies to harness the immune system for the development of innovative therapeutics

Bold Goals for US Biotech and Biomanufacturing

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy just released a new report, Bold Goals for U.S. Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing: Harnessing Research and Development to Further Societal Goals. Focusing on bold goals to advance the American bioeconomy, the report is a product of directions given in Section III of the Executive Order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe, and Secure American Bioeconomy. The report was informed by, and directly references, the recent policy papers published by EBRC, which can be viewed here.

View the full report here!

Biomarkers US 2023

Gain a US perspective on the latest technologies and novel biomarkers driving forward translational research and precision medicine

Ania-Ariadna Baetica

Dr. Ania-Ariadna Baetica is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics at Drexel University. She received her BA degree from Princeton University in 2012 and her PhD from California Institute of Technology in 2018. Following her degrees, she was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco.

Dr. Baetica’s group leverages control theory along with systems biology, synthetic biology, and computational science to solve biotechnological and medical challenges. Her group designs robust and modular synthetic biological circuits by incorporating layered feedback mechanisms.

Ian Ehrenreich

My lab studies how genomes encode organisms’ phenotypes. To do this, we use techniques from genetics, molecular systems biology, and synthetic biology. In the area of synthetic biology, we have developed new approaches for building synthetic chromosomes from natural DNA.

RNA Therapeutics & Delivery Europe 2023

Join RNA leaders, experts and distinguished scientists in Europe, delivering breakthrough research, technologies & connecting global pharma, biotech and academia for high-level discussions on the latest innovations within the formulation and delivery of RNA-based therapeutics.

Oligonucleotides Chemistry & Therapeutics Europe 2023

Join oligo leaders, experts and distinguished scientists in Europe, delivering breakthrough research, technologies & connecting global pharma, biotech and academia for high-level discussions on the latest innovations within the oligonucleotides chemistry & therapeutics development.

An Assessment of Short-Term Milestones in EBRC’s 2019 Roadmap, Engineering Biology

Publication Date: March 2023

The 2019 EBRC roadmap, Engineering Biology: A Research Roadmap for the Next-Generation Bioeconomy, extensively cataloged the potential for progress in the field, setting out numerous goals, possible breakthroughs, and ambitious milestones for the following 20 years. As we approached and passed the first milestone timepoint at 2-years post publication, EBRC sought to review progress in the field, compared against the advancements anticipated by the roadmap. This resulting Assessment reports on technical achievements and advancements and to barriers to progress, enabling the community to reflect on its achievements and identify areas for additional investment and infrastructure to ensure continued advancement.

Chelsea Hu

I’m a new faculty at Texas A&M studying synthetic biology and control theory. Before moving to Texas, I completed four years of postdoctoral training in the Richard Murray Group at Caltech. I received my Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University in 2018, advised by Julius B. Lucks.

Ava Karanjia

Ava Karanjia is a current PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow in Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington, where her research focuses on building transcriptional programs in bacteria. Ava is working on expanding CRISPRa technologies to improve methods of transcriptional signal conversion and transduction. She is also pursuing data science and astrobiology graduate certificates. Ava has undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and microbiology from Arizona State University, where she worked on quorum sensing regulatory systems and other transcriptional activators. She has also worked at NASA Ames Research Center, where she screened and engineered non-traditional yeast candidates for in-situ microbial space technologies. Ava is a big proponent of science communication and has been actively involved in outreach efforts at the University of Washington and EBRC.

EBRC 2023 Annual Meeting

We are excited to announce that registration for the EBRC 2023 Annual Meeting at Northwestern University on June 5-6, 2023 is now open. Registration is open to all EBRC academic members and their lab members, all employees of Industry Member companies, our government colleagues, and members of EBRC’s Student & Postdoc Association. We are also pleased to welcome all faculty, researchers, and trainees at Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology to register and attend.

Register Here

The EBRC Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for the engineering biology community to come together to engage on matters important to advancing engineering biology. In addition to inspiring research talks and poster presentations, EBRC’s meeting holds time to consider the larger engineering biology research ecosystem in which we all exist and work together to move the field forward. We invite you to join us to present and discuss your latest research, build relationships with your colleagues in academia, industry, and government, and advance the member-driven work of EBRC. View our draft agenda here. Note that we anticipate running until 5:00 PM on Tuesday, June 5.

Registration:
Please register here by May 3, 2023. To confirm your spot and offset some of the meal costs, there will be a nominal fee ($150 for faculty and $75 for students and postdocs). If this fee is prohibitive for you or your lab members, please email helix@ebrc.org.

Abstract submissions for posters are now being accepted. Abstract submission is separate from registration. Submissions from all attendees are welcome! We encourage you to submit your latest, ongoing work as a mechanism to engage in community dialogue.

  • Abstracts for posters are due on May 19, 2023

IMPORTANT DATES:
April 7: Last day to submit talk abstracts
April 21: Notification of talk selection
May 3: Registration closes*
May 5: Deadline for hotel and travel arrangements by EBRC
May 19: Last day to submit poster abstracts

*registration may still be possible after this date but will incur additional costs

Annual Meeting Venue:
Northwestern University
Norris Center
1999 Campus Dr
Evanston, IL 60208

Meeting Hotel:
EBRC has reserved a block of hotel rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1818 Maple Ave, Evanston, IL 60201 at $179.00 per night (includes breakfast and WiFi). Please indicate on the registration page if you will need hotel accommodations. We will reserve the room in our block. If your travel is not covered by EBRC, you can provide payment at check in. Please contact helix@ebrc.org with any questions rather than contacting the hotel directly.

Travel Support:
We anticipate covering airfare and hotel expenses for:

  • Individuals selected as speakers from academia, including students and postdocs;
  • EBRC Academic Council members; and
  • Student and Postdoc Association Board members who present a poster or are selected as speakers.

The meeting will conclude at 5:00PM on Tuesday June 6 and we encourage those receiving travel support to find an evening flight out of Chicago O’Hare if at all possible. We will only cover Tuesday night hotel expenses with prior approval. Please contact helix@ebrc.org if you anticipate needing Tuesday night accommodations. Please also note that travel support does not include the confirmation/meal fee ($150 for faculty and $75 for students and postdocs). Email helix@ebrc.org if this fee is prohibitive. Please see EBRC’s full travel policy here.

We encourage you to make your travel plans early, as we will cap the level of airfare support provided by EBRC. Airfare must be booked by May 5 to be eligible for EBRC support.

Health and Safety:
We are committed to hosting a safe event. We will be closely watching CDC recommendations in addition to all relevant local and state guidelines leading up to the Meeting and make any changes necessary for health and safety.