EBRC Announces Dr. India Hook-Barnard as the next Executive Director

Dear Colleagues:

With the growth of EBRC and its latest establishment of the BioMADE Manufacturing Innovation Institute, I am incredibly pleased to (re)introduce Dr. India Hook-Barnard as the next Executive Director of EBRC.

India has been a Senior Advisor with EBRC for the last several months and will now be taking over the day-to-day direction and operations of the Consortium. She has deep experience working across industry, government and academia to establish cross-sectoral programs in areas highly relevant to engineering biology. As part of this transition, she’s looking forward to connecting with EBRC’s members and government sponsors to discuss your priorities and our joint opportunities to advance engineering biology goals. I look forward to working with her to grow EBRC’s impact and grow the impact of our field.

Prior to joining EBRC, India was Senior Advisor to the Beyond 2020: A Vision and Pathway for NIH Working Group, and Senior Vice President for Patient Outcomes and Experience at the National Marrow Donor Program. Before that, she served as the inaugural Executive Director of the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine and as the Director of Research Strategy at the University of California, San Francisco. Earlier in her career, India worked at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine focusing on issues of emerging science and technology, including synthetic biology, precision medicine, biosecurity and biodefense. She earned her PhD in Microbiology—Medicine from the University of Missouri, and continued to study the regulation of gene expression in bacteria and phage during her postdoctoral fellowship at the NIH. India brings a wealth of experience to EBRC and we’re happy to have her join the team.

Reporting through the president to the board, India will oversee all EBRC staff and programs, develop and lead new initiatives, and be your primary EBRC point of contact. India is taking this role at a key time for EBRC: we now have a significant number of ongoing programs and will be up to 10 team members by summer. I will remain actively involved as president by participating in strategic initiatives and key projects.

Thank you for your engagement with EBRC and I look forward to continuing our work together.

Best,
Doug

India Hook-Barnard

Dr. India Hook-Barnard is Chief Executive Officer of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). Her primary interests are in the areas of synthetic biology, precision medicine, responsible innovation, and biosecurity. India enjoys building multidisciplinary collaborations and developing a vision and strategy to address complex challenges. She works with experts and leaders from across academia, industry, and government sectors to identify and shape scientific opportunities, technical feasibility, and policy issues. Her goal is to advance and accelerate engineering biology solutions across all application areas, drive innovation, and grow the bioeconomy for all.

Prior to joining EBRC, India was Senior Advisor to the Beyond 2020: A Vision and Pathway for NIH Working Group, and Senior Vice President for Patient Outcomes and Experience at the National Marrow Donor Program. She was the Director of Research Strategy and Associate Director, Precision Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco; she helped launch and was the Executive Director for the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine. Earlier in her career, India worked at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), focusing on areas of emerging science and technology, including policy issues of data governance, regulation, bioethics, biodefense, and workforce development. At NASEM, she directed standing committees, workshops, and six consensus reports, including Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease (2011).

As a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, India studied the regulation of gene expression in bacteria and phage. She earned her PhD in Microbiology-Medicine from the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Missouri.

John Dileo

John Dileo manages the Biotechnology and Life Sciences Department at the MITRE Corporation in McLean, Virginia. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics & Biochemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and has specialized in experimental and theoretical research in molecular, systems, and synthetic biology, while also providing support and oversight to numerous large Government research and development programs in those fields of study. At MITRE, his department has groups that focus on biosafety, security and quality; countering weapons of mass destruction; medical countermeasures development; and human performance optimization.

The genotype-phenotype landscape of an allosteric protein

Drew S. Tack, Peter D. Tonner, Abe Pressman, Nathanael D. Olson, Sasha F. Levy, Eugenia F. Romantseva, Nina Alperovich, Olga Vasilyeva, and David Ross. Molecular Systems Biology

https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.202010179

Genetic requirements for cell division in a genomically minimal cell

James F. Pelletier, Lijie Sun, Kim S. Wise, Nacyra Assad-Garcia, Bogumil J.Karas, Thomas J.Deerinck, Mark H.Ellisman, Andreas Mershin, Neil Gershenfeld, Ray-Yuan Chuang, John I.Glass, Elizabeth A. Strychalski. Cell

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.008

Ryan Cardiff

Ryan is a Molecular Engineering PhD student at the University of Washington in the Carothers and Zalatan labs. His research focuses on developing improved tools to precisely regulate gene expression in microbial and cell-free systems. Ryan fills his time outside of the lab on long runs, concerts, board games, or cooking. 

Aindrila Mukhopadhyay

Dr. Mukhopadhyay is a Senior Scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, CA. She received a master’s in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology in, Mumbai, India in 1996 and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL in 2002. She did her postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley and LBNL. Currently, she is the principal investigator of her team that is part of several large interdisciplinary projects, mainly focused on engineered and environmental microbial systems. She is the Vice President of the Biofuels and Bioproducts Division at the Department of Energy funded, Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) and is also the Director of its Host Engineering group. As part of JBEI her group develops tools to examine and engineer a variety of microbial platforms including Pseudomonas putida, Corynebacterium glutamicum, Escherichia coli, Rhodosporidium toruloides, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and other microbial strains. She uses a range of functional genomics, metabolic modeling, and systems biology approaches. Her group specifically focuses on developing robust strains that show high tolerance and productivity during biofuel and chemical production, and the optimization required to achieve scalability.

[VIRTUAL] EBRC 2021 Annual Meeting

The EBRC Annual Meeting is an opportunity for the EBRC community to come together to engage on matters important to advancing our field, present and discuss your latest research, and continue to build relationships with your colleagues throughout academia, industry, and government. This virtual meeting will feature sessions on research, EBRC’s work in our focus areas, and a panel discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The meeting will be held virtually over three days: April 23 and 26-27, 2021. VIEW THE FULL AGENDA HERE.

  • Friday, Apr 23 (3:00-6:00pm ET) will kick off with a presentation and discussion of EBRC’s new Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Plan, followed by a poster session/social mixer in EBRC’s Gather Town.
  • Monday, Apr 26 (11:00am-2:00pm ET) will include updates on EBRC’s efforts across the focus areas and membership, followed by oral presentations and posters or a keynote address.
  • Tuesday, Apr 27 (11:00am-2:00pm ET) will continue the oral presentations and end where we started, with a panel on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
  • Following the meeting, EBRC will host a short seminar series to further spotlight research advancing the field. Seminars will be held at 3:00 pm ET May 4; 2:00 pm ET May 13; and 4:00 pm ET May 21.

Registration is now open to all EBRC members and affiliates (including EBRC Student & Postdoc Association members). The deadline to register is April 21.

Zoom and Gather Town will be used to hold this virtual event.

 

William Bentley

WILLIAM E. BENTLEY is the Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Chair in Engineering and was the founding Chair of the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. At Maryland since 1989, Dr. Bentley has focused his research on the development of molecular tools that facilitate the expression of biologically active proteins, having authored over 300 related archival publications. Recent interests in synthetic biology and biofabrication exploit the components of bacterial quorum sensing and redox for opening ‘communication’ between electronic devices and biological systems. He has mentored over 40 PhDs and 21 postdocs. He is co-PI of Maryland’s Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation (CERSI), a comprehensive joint initiative with the FDA and Maryland’s Baltimore campus. He is also co-PI of the National Capital Consortium for Pediatric Device Innovation, joint with Children’s National Medical Center. Dr. Bentley is a Fellow of the ACS, AAAS, and AIMBE and is an elected member of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Malice Analysis at Rice University

Biology is easier than ever to engineer. This reality requires researchers to take proactive steps to consider the security implications of their work. The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) is holding an interactive workshop to help you identify potentially malicious applications of your work, mitigation options, and what to do if you identify something and don’t know how to proceed. The workshop is targeted to graduate students and postdocs, but we welcome others in engineering biology to attend. This technically-focused workshop will include plenary presentations and discussion and small group analysis of participants’ research. Participants that complete all aspects of the workshop will receive a certificate of completion which can be noted on your CV.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

10:00AM – 1:30PM Pacific Time, 1:00 – 4:30 Eastern Time

Register Here

Malice Analysis: Rice University is being hosted by Rice faculty to better build and support a local security community in the Houston area. However, all are welcome to register. Contact Helix@ebrc.org, if you’re interested in hosting a virtual Malice Analysis workshop for your institution.

This workshop is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number, 2017‐ST‐108‐FRG002.

Claudia Vickers

Claudia is Director of CSIRO’s Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform (SynBioFSP), a highly collaborative R&D program aimed at expanding Australia’s synthetic biology capability and developing national synthetic biology-based industry. The SynBioFSP works across disciplinary boundaries, exploring both synthetic biology innovation and the social, legal, ethical and institutional issues surrounding bringing this innovation to impact. Her personal research focuses on sustainable alternatives to petrochemicals and other industrial/agricultural products using bio-based solutions. She applies synthetic biology to engineer living cells, re-programming them for production of useful biochemicals or to act as sense/response systems for environmental monitoring and remediation. Her current work is primarily in microbes, but she has a background in plant molecular biology, abiotic stress, and applied plant engineering. She played a leading role in establishing synthetic biology as a field in Australia; she was founding President of Synthetic Biology Australia and co-authored Australia’s national synthetic biology roadmap (delivered by the Australian Council of Learned Academies). She is on the Executive of the International Society for Isoprenoids (TERPNET) and serves on editorial boards for eight international journals. She represents Australia at international strategy and policy fora (US, Asia-Pacific, OECD, World Economic Forum) and sits on the Scientific Advisory Boards for several international synthetic biology institutes and for Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). She co-chairs the World Economic Forum Synthetic Biology Future Council. She is experienced in working across disciplinary boundaries and with industry partners.

Professor Vickers holds a PhD from The University of Queensland and is an Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University.

Malice Analysis at University of California, Berkeley

Biology is easier than ever to engineer. This reality requires researchers to take proactive steps to consider the security implications of their work. The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) is holding an interactive workshop to help you identify potentially malicious applications of your work, mitigation options, and what to do if you identify something and don’t know how to proceed. The workshop is targeted to graduate students and postdocs, but we welcome others in engineering biology to attend. This technically-focused workshop will include plenary presentations and discussion and small group analysis of participants’ research. Participants that complete all aspects of the workshop will receive a certificate of completion which can be noted on your CV.

Thursday April 29, 2021

9:00AM – 12:30PM Pacific Time, 12:00 – 3:30PM Eastern Time

Register Here

Malice Analysis: UC Berkeley is being hosted by UC Berkeley faculty to better build and support a local security community in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, all are welcome to register. Contact Helix@ebrc.org, if you’re interested in hosting a virtual Malice Analysis workshop for your institution.

This workshop is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number, 2017‐ST‐108‐FRG002.

Malice Analysis at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Biology is easier than ever to engineer. This reality requires researchers to take proactive steps to consider the security implications of their work. The Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) is holding an interactive workshop to help you identify potentially malicious applications of your work, mitigation options, and what to do if you identify something and don’t know how to proceed. The workshop is targeted to graduate students and postdocs, but we welcome others in engineering biology to attend. This technically-focused workshop will include plenary presentations and discussion and small group analysis of participants’ research. Participants that complete all aspects of the workshop will receive a certificate of completion which can be noted on your CV.

Wednesday May 5, 2021

10:00AM – 1:30PM Pacific Time, 1:00 – 4:30PM Eastern Time

Register Here

Malice Analysis: MIT is being hosted by MIT faculty to better build and support a local security community in the Boston area. However, all are welcome to register. Contact Helix@ebrc.org, if you’re interested in hosting a virtual Malice Analysis workshop for your institution.

This workshop is supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number, 2017‐ST‐108‐FRG002.

Kate Galloway

Kate E Galloway is an assistant professor at MIT in the department of Chemical Engineering. Katie Galloway earned her BS in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley, PhD in Chemical Engineering at Caltech, and did her postdoc at USC Stem Cell before starting at MIT in the summer of 2019. As a chemical engineer working in molecular systems biology, her research focuses on elucidating the fundamental principles of integrating synthetic circuitry to drive cellular behaviors. Her lab focuses on developing integrated gene circuits and elucidating the systems-level principles that govern complex cellular behaviors. Her team leverages synthetic biology to transform how we understand cellular transitions and engineer cellular therapies. Her research has been featured in Science, Cell Stem Cell, Cell Systems, and Development. She has won multiple fellowships and awards including the NIH F32 and Caltech’s Everhart Award.

Kaitlyn Duvall

As a Project and Research Associate at EBRC, Kaitlyn Duvall supports a variety of organizational initiatives to advance the frontiers of engineering biology and better inform policy-making decisions related to climate, engineering biology, and the bioeconomy. Her work involves stakeholder engagement, project administration, and the provision of technical and editorial support. Prior to joining EBRC, she served as Climate & Sustainability Staff at the City of Reno, where she played a pivotal role in advancing city-wide climate and sustainability initiatives. In addition to her professional experience, Kaitlyn holds a M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Albert Hinman

Albert recently finished his PhD at Stanford University in the Department of Genetics studying meiotic DNA double-strand break formation in Dr. Anne Villeneuve’s laboratory. In his time at Stanford, he was heavily involved with diversity and inclusion advocacy by being the President of the Stanford Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Chapter and Coleader of the Stanford Science Policy Group. He is excited to join EBRC and is very interested in understanding how scientific funding, researcher incentives, and the bioeconomy can be developed for greater societal impact within engineering biology. Albert can be found on Slack (@Albert Hinman) and reached via email awh@ebrc.org.

Elizabeth Vitalis

Beth is the Director of the 4S (Safety, Security, Sustainability, and Social Responsibility) program at BioMADE. In this role she is working with BioMADE members to build mechanisms and partnerships to help ensure the social values are embraced and integrated into all Biomanufacturing pursuits as we grow the Bioeconomy. Prior to BioMADE, she led a proactive Biosecurity program for Inscripta’s digital genome engineering platform while engaging the broader community to collaboratively advance security, responsibility, and education in bioengineering. Her contributions spanning two decades at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory advanced a range of collaborative biodefense and global security efforts including multi-institute projects to promote biorisk detection and response. Over the years, she has enjoyed teaching community college, university, and graduate-level biology courses as well as forging community science education partnerships and events. Beth earned a BA in Chemistry from Concordia College in Minnesota and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Francisco.

Albert Hinman

Albert recently finished his PhD at Stanford University in the Department of Genetics studying meiotic DNA double-strand break formation in Dr. Anne Villeneuve’s laboratory. In his time at Stanford, he was heavily involved with diversity and inclusion advocacy by being the President of the Stanford Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Chapter and Coleader of the Stanford Science Policy Group. He is excited to join EBRC and is very interested in understanding how scientific funding, researcher incentives, and the bioeconomy can be developed for greater societal impact within engineering biology.

Ross Jones

Ross is a postdoctoral fellow in Peter Zandstra’s Lab at the University of British Columbia, where he works on manufacturing CAR-T cell production from pluripotent stem cells. He earned his PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT, where he worked under Ron Weiss and Domitilla Del Vecchio to study and mitigate context dependence in mammalian synthetic gene networks. Ross earned his BS in Bioengineering at the University of Washington, where he worked with Hannele Ruohola-Baker and Narendra Singh. As a SPA board member for the last few years, Ross has been leading many outreach efforts targeting undergraduate students and has developed workshops and panels to support the professional development of current and future SPA members.

Anna Crumbley

Anna M. Crumbley is an NRC Postdoctoral Research Associate in the BioTechnology Division of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (CCDC CBC). She is working to develop efficient scale up processes for synthetically modified microbes generating bio-based materials. Annie received her doctorate from Rice University, in Houston, TX, and her bachelor’s from The University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, AL, both in Chemical and Biological/Biomolecular Engineering.