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.

Gloria Zhou

Gloria is a Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Fuzhong Zhang’s lab at Washington University in St. Louis. She obtained her B.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Cornell University in 2021. Her current research is focused on using single-cell strategies to better understand and regulate cell-to-cell heterogeneities in microbial bioproduction. Outside of the lab, Gloria enjoys skiing, watching TV shows, and playing games with friends.

Samer Saleh

I am a PhD candidate in the Han Li lab at UCI, where I work on projects in cofactor engineering and cell free biocatalysis.

Divya Naradasu

I am Divya Naradasu from India, a Biotechnology undergrad with a Master’s in Environmental Engineering. I moved to Japan to pursue a Ph.D. in Microbial Electrochemistry at The University of Tokyo after receiving a MEXT Japanese scholarship. The fundamental idea behind my research is based on an extraordinary phenomenon known as “Extracellular electron transfer (EET)”, in which microbes transfer their metabolically generated electrons to extracellular surfaces like iron oxides or solid electrodes, or in other words, breathe anaerobically to external electron acceptors in the absence of oxygen. In order to comprehend the microbial community in natural habitats, including human biofilms (oral/gut/skin) and deep-sea thermal vents, EET is being viewed as a survival mechanism. To understand the mechanism of the numerous oral infections, I conducted basic research on the EET capabilities of oral pathogens for my PhD. In understanding the mechanism of EET implicated in pathogen survival, as a postdoc at the University of Bristol, UK, I am continuing my study on the relevance of electron transport pathways in oral pathogens and its implications for host disease.

Samantha Koplik

‘m a fifth-year Bioengineering PhD student at the University of Washington, specializing in mammalian synthetic biology. My current research centers on mRNA splicing, a critical process as most human transcripts undergo alternative splicing, with many disease-related mutations impacting this mechanism. To enhance our understanding, I’m developing advanced machine learning models aimed at accurately predicting the sequence determinants that influence alternative splicing.

Sergej Kudruk

I am currently an IIN Postdoctoral Fellow under the mentorship of Prof. Chad Mirkin in the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University. During my Ph.D. at the University of Münster and the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, I focused on lipid dynamics and cellular membrane trafficking mechanisms—processes that are essential for drug delivery. This research provided me with a deep understanding of the intersection between cell biology and chemistry, particularly in regulating molecular transport within cells. Building on this foundation, my postdoctoral research as a translational chemist and engineer at Northwestern University has enabled me to explore the use of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) as nanostructures for developing cancer immunotherapies and treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Leveraging my expertise in cellular processes and nanostructure engineering, I have expanded the frontiers of therapeutic development. Moving forward, I aim to define critical design principles for vaccines to advance current immunotherapies—specifically, to elucidate the structure-function relationships of nucleic acid-based therapeutics that dictate the nanoscale activation of the immune system.

Leo Penny

Zoila Jurado

Michaelle Mayalu

Dr. Michaëlle N. Mayalu is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering. She received her Ph.D., M.S., and B.S., degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology in the Computing and Mathematical Sciences Department. She was a 2017 California Alliance Postdoctoral Fellowship Program recipient and a 2019 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Enrichment Program award recipient. She is also a 2023 Hypothesis Fund Grantee.
Dr. Michaëlle N. Mayalu’s area of expertise is in mathematical modeling and control theory of synthetic biological and biomedical systems. She is interested in the development of control theoretic tools for understanding, controlling, and predicting biological function at the molecular, cellular, and organismal levels to optimize therapeutic intervention.

Azeez Akinyemi

Xavier Bower

Synthetic Biology enthusiast with years of experience building and launching molecular diagnostic assays and bioinformatics pipelines. Currently rotating in labs at Northwestern University focused on diverse areas of applied synthetic biology. Preoccupied with the intersection of bioeconomy, ethics, and the ongoing social restructuring due to social media, AI, and increasing economic inequality.

Virginia Cornish

Virginia W. Cornish is the Helena Rubinstein Chair in the Department of Chemistry and a founding member of the Department of Systems Biology at Columbia University. Her research brings together modern methods in synthetic chemistry and DNA technology to expand the synthetic capabilities of living cells, and she is a pioneer in the field of yeast synthetic biology. Her current research focuses on translating state-of-the-art synthetic biology platforms to the clinic. She has over 100 research publications and issued patents and has been supported by grants from the NIH, NSF, DARPA, USDA, and numerous private foundations. Virginia has been recognized by an NSF Career Award (2000), a Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2003), the Columbia College John Jay Award (2005), the Protein Society Irving Sigal Young Investigator Award (2009), the American Chemical Society Pfizer Award in Enzyme Chemistry (2009), and an HHMI Gilliam Adviser (2021). She graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a B.A. in Biochemistry in 1991, where she did undergraduate research with Professor Ronald Breslow. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry with Professor Peter Schultz at the University of California at Berkeley and then was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Biology Department at M.I.T. under the guidance of Professor Robert Sauer. Virginia joined the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Columbia in 1999 and was promoted Associate Professor with tenure in 2004, Professor in 2007, and Helena Rubinstein Chair in 2011.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled individual to join the VT Plant Synthetic Biology research group as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. The successful candidate will be a key contributor to a project focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying ubiquitin ligase function, with a specific emphasis on plant hormone receptors and response pathways. This position offers a unique opportunity to engage in cutting-edge research at the intersection of molecular biology, biochemistry, and synthetic biology with agriculture and biotechnology.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop, execute, and publish research projects towards understanding and engineering chemically activated ubiquitin ligases. This work will build upon existing systems in the VT Plant Synthetic Biology lab for functional quantification of ubiquitin ligases in yeast and expand to using deep mutational scanning and directed evolution approaches. Additionally, the successful candidate will explore developing new systems for high throughput functional measurement of ubiquitin ligases that respond to jasmonate and other plant hormones.

Alexander Vlahos

Alexander Vlahos is an incoming Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is currently a Human Frontier Science Program Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Xiaojing Gao at Stanford University where he applies principles in synthetic biology and protein engineering to develop tools for programming intercellular signalling. Previously, he completed his PhD in Biomedical Engineering with Dr. Michael Sefton at the University of Toronto, where he developed platforms to improve vascularization of the subcutaneous space for islet transplantation. His goal is to converge his background in synthetic biology, systems biology, and tissue engineering to mechanistically study and manipulate multicellular systems to determine the key signals that govern these processes. His lab will focus on grandstanding challenges in biomedicine such improving the long-term engraftment of therapeutic cells, and increasing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies.

Anru Tian

My name is Anru and I am currently a second year PhD student in Michael Jewett’s lab at Stanford University. I am interested broadly in biotherapeutics and my current research surrounds cell-free glycosylation. I am originally from Ohio and I love to go on long runs and acquire terrible tan lines!

Yuhan BAO

My name is Yuhan BAO, and I am a Ph.D. in the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, China. My research primarily revolves around innovation policies, regulatory frameworks, and biosafety policies related to synthetic biology. I am particularly fascinated by the social and policy implications of biotechnology and its intersection with broader societal issues. My academic journey has positioned me as a policy researcher and community mobilizer dedicated to promoting responsible search and innovation not only through research but also through personal engagement and community promotion.

Zachary Jansen

I am a fifth year graduate student in the SSPB program at Rice, working in a chemical engineering lab under Dr. Ross Thyer. I am interested in non-model microbe engineering, as well as high throughput protein engineering efforts. My background is in environmental microbiology, lanthanide biochemistry, protein engineering, and synthetic biology.

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor of Bioengineering

The Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact (Knight Campus) Department of Bioengineering at the University of Oregon (UO) invites applications for three tenure-track faculty positions. These three positions start a multi-year hiring plan for up to 16 positions. Candidates focused on biomedical data science, synthetic biology, neural engineering, or immune engineering are particularly encouraged to apply and will have the opportunity to become members of the UO/OHSU Center for Biomedical Data Science, UO Institute of Neuroscience, the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, and/or the Center for Translational Biomedical Research. A commitment to translation and entrepreneurial activities will be reviewed especially favorably. Applicants at all levels (assistant, associate, or full professor) with significant track records of research and innovation, teaching, and service excellence as appropriate to their seniority will be considered.

Deniz Sinar

I received my BS in Bioengineering from Cornell University. I have experience with research on bioelectrochemical systems for biofuel production using electroactive microbes, as well as gas fermentation for biofuel production. My interests include synthetic biology, sustainability, cell-free systems, protein engineering, and carbon-negative biomanufacturing. I’m also passionate about STEM outreach and science communication.

Caroline Cannistra

I’m a PhD student in computational biology who studies protein fitness using a combination of directed evolution experiments, molecular dynamics simulations, and data-driven modeling techniques. I got my Bachelor’s at the University of Washington in bioengineering and applied math, and worked at the biological tissue modeling software company Biocellion before grad school. I’m very interested in self-advocacy and making academia acceptable for people with disabilities and people of all socioeconomic status.

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