Response to DOE’s Request for Information on Partnerships for Transformational AI Models

Publication Date: January 2026

EBRC’s response to DOE’s Request for Information on Partnerships for Transformational AI Models.

See the Request for Information as published in the Federal Register Vol. 90, pg 56138.

Keywords: DOE, RFI, biotechnology, biomanufacturing, standards, infrastructure, AI

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Response to NSF TIP’s Workforce Development Roadmap

Publication Date: January 2026

EBRC’s response to the National Science Foundation for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (NSF TIP) offers recommendations to align workforce development with evolving industry needs to expand U.S. engineering biology and biotechnology capacity. Such efforts will strengthen the American workforce and help maintain U.S. competitiveness and leadership in emerging technologies.

Dianzhuo (John) Wang

Dr. Dianzhuo (John) Wang earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Harvard. His research integrated biophysics and machine learning to forecast viral variants and develop state-of-the-art models for protein design. As CSO of TwentyTwo, he leads research strategy to develop machine learning tools to prepare for biological risks.

Evan Seeyave

Evan was previously at SecureBio working on desktop synthesizer security, ultraviolet PPE, and AIxBio evaluations. He finished his Bachelor’s and Master’s last year at MIT, and he’s leading TwentyTwo to work on improving security for the life sciences ecosystem.

Sophie Peresson

Sophie is the technical lead for the International Screening Standards initiative, which seeks to support the harmonization and standardization of screening approaches around the world. She is a member of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC), the OECD Synthetic Biology Working Party, Pandemic Action Network (PAN), several other international policy fora and the former French representative at ISO TC 276: Biotechnology working group.

Previously, Sophie played a critical role in the revision of the ASPR/HHS Screening Framework Guidance for providers and users of synthetic nucleic acides, namely by providing expert input on the specific challenges faced by benchtop device manufacturers, and the solutions developed by them. At the EU level, Sophie actively contributes to discussions around the EU Biotech Act and the Bioeconomy, working collaboratively with key stakeholders across the synthetic biology ecosystem. She regularly speaks at international conferences including SynBioBeta, SynbiCITE, and the OECD.

She has spent much of her career working at the interface of science, public policy, and health, building trusted relationships with governments, civil society, and the private sector. Prior to joining IBBIS, she held senior roles in international organizations, think tanks, and the private sector. She lectures on governance and emerging technologies at Sciences Po (Paris). Sophie holds post-graduate degrees from the Sorbonne Law School, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).

Piers Millet

Piers D. Millett, Ph.D. is Executive Director of the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS). Dr. Millett is a certified biorisk management professional, with a specialization in biosecurity.

Dr. Millett was Deputy Head of the Implementation Support Unit for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), a treaty for which he worked for over a decade. He has consulted for the World Health Organization, supporting its integration of research and development into responses to public health emergencies and considering the health implications of advances in technology. As Vice President for Responsibility for iGEM Foundation (International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition), Dr. Millett established and ran a program strengthening the culture of responsibility and risk management with more than 350 projects each year, involving more than 6,000 young scientists and engineers from 45 countries across every inhabited continent.
Trained originally as a microbiologist, Dr. Millett has worked closely with the citizen science movement, synthetic biologists, the biotechnology industry as well as national and international policymakers and decisionmakers. He has collaborated with a range of intergovernmental organizations spanning human and animal health, humanitarian law, disarmament, security, border control, law enforcement, and weapons of mass destruction— both inside and out of the United Nations system.

He holds a Ph.D. in International Relations and Affairs, an MRes in Research Methodology, and an MA in International Politics and Security Studies—all from the University of Bradford. He has a BSc in Microbiology from the University of Leeds.

EBRC 2026 Annual Meeting

Register Here

Our 2026 Annual Meeting will be held June 2-3, 2026 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC!

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. Attendance at the Annual Meeting is open to all EBRC members, their lab members, employees of institutional members, and all SPA members. We also warmly welcome all those in the Research Triangle with an interest in engineering biology to join us.

This year, we are excited to celebrate EBRC’s 10-year anniversary! Additional activities, sessions, and social mixers will also be held throughout the Research Triangle on June 1, 2026, the day before the meeting; look forward to more information about these industry- and SPA-dedicated events coming soon!

Registration:
The deadline to register is May 11, 2026. To confirm your spot and offset some of the meal costs, there will be a nominal fee. If this fee is prohibitive for you or your lab members, please email helix@ebrc.org.

Abstract submissions for talks and posters are now open. 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 talks are due March 30, 2026 and abstracts for posters are due on May 11, 2026.

IMPORTANT DATES:
March 30, 2026: Last day to submit talk abstracts
April 20, 2026: Notification of talk selection
April 29, 2026: Registration closes for those with EBRC-supported travel
May 1, 2026: Deadline for hotel and travel arrangements by EBRC
May 11, 2026: Registration closes*
May 11, 2026: Last day to submit poster abstracts

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

Annual Meeting Venue:
Talley Student Union
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

Meeting Hotel:
More information coming soon!

Transportation:
More information coming soon!

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

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

Individuals who will receive travel support will be contacted by email to complete their flight bookings. The meeting will conclude at 5:00PM on Wednesday, June 3 and we encourage those receiving travel support to find an evening flight if at all possible. Please contact helix@ebrc.org if you anticipate needing Sunday and/or Wednesday night accommodations. Please also note that travel support does not include the confirmation/meal fee. 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 1 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.

Dress Code:
The EBRC Annual Meeting does not have a dress code. EBRC values diversity and individual expression — we encourage participants to come as they are and wish to present themselves to the world.

Robert Mikulak

Ambassador (ret) Robert P. Mikulak is an independent expert on chemical and biological security issues. Until mid-December 2025, he served as an expert on these issues at the United States Department of State, focusing on measures for strengthening the Biological Weapons Convention, ensuring that advances in biology are not used to create new biological weapons, and investigation of alleged use of chemical or biological weapons. He is also an expert consultant for the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs.
From November 2010 until his retirement in July 2015, Ambassador Mikulak was the United States Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He previously served in the State Department and the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in a series of increasingly responsible technical and policy positions related to prohibition of chemical and biological weapons. During the decade-long negotiation of the 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, he was the deputy U.S. negotiator and senior U.S. expert.
Ambassador Mikulak was awarded the OPCW-The Hague Award in 2019 for outstanding contributions toward a world free of chemical weapons. Other honors include high-level awards from the Secretaries of State and Defense and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ambassador Mikulak received his undergraduate degree in chemistry at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He did post-doctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Allen Liu

Allen Liu received a B.Sc. degree in Biochemistry (Honors) from the University of British Columbia in 2001. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biophysics in 2007 from the University of California-Berkeley and received his post-doctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute-La Jolla. He started his group in 2012, and he is currently the Associate Chair for Graduate Education and a Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Biophysics at the University of Michigan. His current research interests lie in cellular mechanotransduction and bottom-up synthetic biology, and his lab uses tools from quantitative cell biology, synthetic biology, biophysics, and microfluidics. He has received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, a Young Innovator by Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE), a Rising Star from CMBE-Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and was named a Future of Biophysics Burroughs Wellcome Fund Symposium speaker. He is an elected Fellow of the BMES, and a recipient of the Endeavour Executive Fellowship (Australia) and the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researcher (Germany)

Synthetic Biology and Engineering Organisms for the Environment

What are engineered microbes? How are they created? And why are scientists developing them? In this lecture, Joff Silberg, Ph.D., Professor of Biosciences at Rice University, will describe what synthetic biology is and how it can be used to develop engineered microbes that have new functions that can identify disease outbreaks, breakdown chemicals, and develop more sustainable fertilizers.

This event is part of the “Engineered Microbes for Environmental Release” webinar series that brings together voices from synthetic biology, ecology, policy, science and technology studies, biotechnology, ethics, and history to explore the social, technological, and environmental dimensions of these innovations. Hosted by the Baker Institute’s Science and Technology Policy Program and co-sponsored by the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, this webinar series was supported by a grant from Schmidt Sciences and the National Science Foundation (#2223678 & 2515431).

Alejandro Vallejo

I am a biotechnologist and biosecurity specialist with active research and policy engagement at the intersection of synthetic biology, public health, and regulatory governance. My work combines molecular biology, genomics, and bioethics with the development and evaluation of biosafety and biotechnology regulatory frameworks in Latin America and the Caribbean. I have published peer-reviewed research on genomics, molecular diagnostics, and emerging biotechnologies, and I served as a national consultant on biosecurity for international organizations including FAO and PAHO/WHO and National organizations like the Ministry of Environment. My professional focus is on enabling responsible innovation in synthetic biology through evidence-based policy, capacity building, and applied research in resource-limited settings.

Response to OSTP’s Request for Information on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise

Publication Date: December 2025

EBRC’s response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Request for Information on Accelerating the American Scientific Enterprise provides targeted recommendations for the U.S. government’s role in the advancement of biotechnology.

Response to NSF RFI on Key Technology Focus Areas for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships

Publication Date: July 2025

An EBRC response to NSF RFI 90 FR 26330: Key Technology Focus Areas for the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.

Rennos Fragkoudis

Rennos Fragkoudis completed his PhD on molecular virology and viral pathogenesis at the University of Edinburgh and for ~15 years he concentrated his research on the pathogenesis of arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) in both vertebrate and invertebrate systems working with alpha-, flavi- and bunyaviruses.
Since November 2019, Rennos is the Head of the Edinburgh Genome Foundry at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Biological Sciences. In this role, he leads a multidisciplinary team focused on advancing high-throughput Engineering Biology through the innovative application of laboratory automation and robotics. Under his leadership, the Edinburgh Genome Foundry has become a hub for automated Engineering Biology, fostering collaboration across academia and industry and working on a large variety of projects addressing grand challenges.

Susan Rosser

Susan is Professor of Synthetic Biology and Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Chair in Emerging Technologies at the University of Edinburgh. She was Director of the UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology and is currently the director of the newly funded Engineering Biology Mission Hub for Advanced Therapeutics. Prof Rosser is Co-director of the Edinburgh Genome Foundry for synthetic DNA assembly and cell phenotyping. Her research focuses on using engineering biology approaches for developing and controlling genetic circuits for applications in cell and gene therapies as well as metabolic engineering. Prof Rosser is a member of the UK Engineering Biology Advisory Panel. She is also co-founder of two early-stage start-ups using a combination of AI and engineering biology for new gene therapies and enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases.