P. C. Dave P. Dingal

My research focuses on the interplay between extrinsic and intrinsic signals that affect cell behavior by building cutting-edge molecular tools to measure and perturb such signals. Most molecular tools are being developed and function well in vitro. Current technologies are unable to measure signaling in its native context in vivo, mainly due to lack of signal amplification, slow kinetics, and incompatibility of reagents. I aim to develop and translate some of these tools in vivo to help solve issues of biomedical relevance.

My graduate training combined biophysical and systems-biology approaches for the mechano-chemical control of adult human stem cells.With my engineering background, my postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University focused on developing synthetic biological tools to measure signals that induce cell fate. I developed a versatile receptor-based tool called CRISPR ChaCha, which senses the immediate microenvironment and activate novel genomic expression programs via CRISPR-Cas9. At Harvard University, I created molecular tools that control the secretion and sensing of signals as they arise in the developing zebrafish embryo.

As an Assistant Professor at UT Dallas, my research laboratory is developing cutting-edge tools to measure and characterize signaling mechanisms in vivo. We are developing innovative uses of biological molecules in vivo, including CRISPR/Cas systems, synthetic proteases, and fluorescent probes to gain deeper insights into endogenous signal release and response in early embryos and in the brain.

Chris Vaiana

Just released: Engineering Biology for Space Health

The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) is happy to have released our newest technical research roadmap, Engineering Biology for Space Health: An Innovative Research Roadmap. The roadmap is available as an interactive website and PDF available at https://roadmap.ebrc.org.

This EBRC technical research roadmap, Engineering Biology for Space Health, provides a detailed evaluation of opportunities for engineering biology to improve human health and well-being during space exploration missions and help solve societal challenges here on Earth. Keeping humans alive on ever-longer and ever-further missions into space will require the sustainable production and access to food, new and more efficient and effective health and medicine capabilities, and enabling and ensuring resources to support life and control the local environment, particularly when those resources are limited.

Supported by NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), the roadmap was written collaboratively by more than 100 contributors across various academic institutions, biotechnology companies, government laboratories, and other organizations. This roadmap is intended to guide technical research and development, investment, and programmatic decisions into engineering biology tools and technologies that will help overcome the challenges of extended space travel.

The technical roadmap focuses on novel, foundational engineering biology solutions for:

  • Health & Medicine
  • Food & Nutrition
  • Environmental Control & Life Support

View the roadmap here!

 

Engineering Biology for Space Health: An Innovative Research Roadmap

Publication Date: October 2024

Engineering Biology for Space Health provides a detailed evaluation of opportunities for engineering biology to improve human health and well-being during space exploration missions and help solve societal challenges here on Earth. Keeping humans alive in space will require the sustainable production and access to food, new and more efficient and effective health and medicine capabilities, and ensuring resources to support life and control the local environment, particularly when those resources are limited. This technical roadmap is intended to guide research and development, investment, and programmatic decisions that will help overcome the challenges of extended space travel.

Advancing Science & Technology Policy for the Next-Generation Bioeconomy

 

EBRC is thrilled to introduce the 2024 Journal of Science Policy & Governance (JSPG) Special Topics Issue focused on Advancing Science & Technology Policy for the Next-Generation Bioeconomy.

The 2024 Special Topics Issue highlights the potential of engineering biology and biotechnology to address societal challenges across all sectors – including health, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, and the environment – and enable a more circular, sustainable bioeconomy. This issue seeks to inspire innovative ideas that may provide leaders and decision-makers with fresh perspectives, in-depth analyses, and actionable policy recommendations. Contributors explore a wide range of topics, from governance and regulatory considerations for emerging biotechnology to global and regional strategies to grow the bioeconomy, bioliteracy, and workforce development.

We are particularly excited to demonstrate alignment with the key Pillars highlighted in the 2025 report, Charting the Future of Biotechnology: An Action Plan for American Security and Prosperity, recently released by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB), underscoring a comprehensive strategy to enhance and maintain robust US leadership in the global bioeconomy. Articles in this issue expand upon and provide timely insight that directly addresses the challenges and priorities outlined in the NSCEB report.

EBRC extends our gratitude to all those who submitted articles for consideration in this Special Topics Issue and to JSPG staff for their assistance in organizing webinars to help prospective authors strengthen their submissions. We are especially grateful for the JSPG reviewers and editors whose time, effort, and insights made this publication possible. We would like to congratulate all published authors and specifically highlight the awardees of the EBRC Showcase. These articles stood out for their relevance, implementation of policy recommendations and ideas, and effectiveness in bridging the gap between engineering biology and policy.

  • “Governance Challenges for Direct to Consumer Genetically Engineered Organisms” by Casey Isabelle and Dalton R. George, Arizona State University;
  • “Regional food biomanufacturing innovation hubs can catalyze bioeconomic growth and national security” by Erin Rees Clayton and Curt Chaffin, The Good Food Institute; and
  • “Genetically Engineered Microbes for Bioremediation: Opportunities and Limitations in the Emerging Bioeconomy” by Avery M. Brewer and Dalton R. George, Arizona State University.

We would additionally like to thank the EBRC review panel, consisting of experts and leaders in engineering biology, biotechnology, and bioeconomy policy, who evaluated all accepted Special Topics Issue submissions for the EBRC Showcase award.

Read the Special Issue here!

Erin Garza

Dr. Garza received her master’s and PhD in microbiology from Northern Illinois University. Her graduate work involved genetically engineering biofuel pathways, like homoethanol and butanol, into Escherichia coli. Dr. Garza completed a postdoc at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) where she is currently a staff scientist in the synthetic biology department. Her research involves genetically engineering bacteria and diatoms to produce compounds of interest, elucidating plastic degradation pathways in marine organisms, domesticating and characterizing genetic parts for DNA cloning libraries, and developing and optimizing cloning techniques for non-model organisms.

Dr. Garza has worked on numerous research projects, but her main interest involves studying the microbiome of deep-sea plastics in an attempt to locate and engineer new plastic degrading organisms and to determine the effects of plastic pollution on the ocean and its ecology. She is currently working towards attaining an assistant professor position at JCVI.

Christian Cuba Samaniego

I received my BS degree in Mechatronic Eng. from National University of Engineering (UNI-Peru). I obtained my PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California Riverside (UCR) under the supervision of Elisa Franco in 2017. I held a postdoctoral scholar with Ron Weiss at MIT (2017), Elisa Franco at UCLA (2019), Ming-Ru Wu at Harvard/DFCI (2023). In Fall 2024, I will join the Computational Biology Department at Carnegie Mellon University. I work at the intersection among Control Theory, Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology. I am specially interested in the design, analysis and applications of biomolecular feedback control systems and molecular neural networks for decision-making in living cells. To create a community that connects mathematical theories, models, and biomolecular experiments, I co-organize a Seminar on Biological Control Systems. it focuses on applications of mathematical modeling and control systems to biology. We host monthly talks featuring our members and invited guests.

Johnathan O’Neil

Johnathan is a postdoctoral scholar at the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Tech, where his research centered on the biomechanics and fluid dynamics of semiaquatic insects’ locomotion with potential applications in robotics. His fieldwork included studying these insects in Georgia and the Peruvian Amazon. During graduate school, he actively engaged in outreach events in both Atlanta and Peru. Outside of research, Johnathan enjoys writing poetry and collecting vinyl records.

Elizabeth Allen

Elizabeth is a U.S. Coast Guard Veteran who spent 12 years as a Food Service Officer. She joined EBRC as a Senior Administrator in August 2024. She has most recently been a contract Executive Assistant with First Republic Bank and FEMA. She has a B.S. in Hospitality Management from Johnson & Wales University. She is an avid book reader and crossfitter. You can find her hiking the Bay Area on the weekends with her husband and three kids.

Garrett Dunlap

Dr. Garrett Dunlap joined EBRC as Associate Director of Policy & International Engagement in September 2024. Before this, he was Head of Science and Innovation at the British Consulate-General in New York, fostering UK-US science and tech collaborations. He previously worked as a Graduate Fellow at the Wilson Center, focusing on biosecurity risks from converging technologies, and as a Science Diplomacy Fellow with the Netherlands Innovation Network, exploring deep tech innovation ecosystems. In addition to his current role, Garrett is a Fellow for Ending Bioweapons with the Council on Strategic Risks, and he also participates in working groups for the World Economic Forum and All Tech is Human. He holds a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University and undergraduate degrees in Biology and Political Science from Case Western Reserve University.

NextGen Omics & Spatial Biology US 2025

Advancing therapeutic Innovation through Multi-Omic Analysis – Celebrating its 11th Year.
Join us at NextGen Omics & Spatial Biology US 2025, a premier event celebrating its 11th year of advancing therapeutic innovation through multi-omic analysis. This gathering brings together over 1,000 senior experts in multi-omics and spatial analysis from leading pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies, creating a vibrant platform for collaboration and innovation.

Jaya Joshi

Jaya Joshi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wood Science, Bioproducts, and Bioengineering at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her research walks through enzyme design space: exploring fitness landscapes for radical metabolic engineering design ideas, with the goal of achieving successful carbon farming by 2050. The overarching aim of her research program is to transform inefficient designer biocatalysts into highly active enzymes by applying novel enzyme improvement strategies, such as continuous directed evolution and machine learning. Jaya earned her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Western University and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 2017. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Andrew Hanson at the University of Florida in 2020 before joining Dr. Vincent Martin’s lab at the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics in Montreal, where she explored the immense potential of biofoundries in synthetic biology. Exploring automation and synthetic biology tool development remains central to Jaya’s research at the University of British Columbia.