Fan Hong

Fan is interested in developing biomolecular tools to dive into the complexity of biology (decoding and regulating cellular functions on the molecular basis at the tissue scale). Before joining the faculty at the University of Florida, Fan was a Postdoc Fellow at Wyss Institute at Harvard University where he worked on the DNA advanced in situ spatial multi-omics (e.g., DNA thermal-plex) in the Yin Lab. Thermal-plex enables multiplexed fluorescent imaging of biomolecules with unprecedented feasibility and speed for tissue biospecimen analysis. Fan completed his Ph.D. at Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University and worked in the Yan Lab, Green Lab, and Sulc Lab, where he developed methods to program nucleic acids in vitro (e.g., Framework DNA nanoarchitecture), in vivo (e.g., SNIPR), and in silico (e.g., crowder-oxDNA) to address grand questions with chemical approaches to biology. Those methods enable the control of nucleic acid folding into complex framework biomolecular architectures from the nanoscale to the macroscale, the regulation of cellular gene expression based on the single nucleotide mutation in cells with de-novo-designed RNA riboregulators, and the investigation of the biophysical behavior of nucleic acid folding in the crowding cellular environment with molecular dynamics.

Priyanka Nain

I am Priyanka Nain, currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at the University of Delaware. Here, my research revolves around finding innovative solutions that integrate synthetic biology, sustainability, and healthcare. My Ph.D. is from the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Delhi, where I was developing strategies to improve the production of biotherapeutic proteins. I am deeply passionate about sustainable biomanufacturing. I thrive on the scientific challenges involved in scaling up bioprocesses, from optimizing cell lines and media to fine-tuning fermentation feeding and control strategies, and analytical methods. But I also care deeply about the broader impact – delivering products that are both effective and accessible and manufactured in the interest of the environment.

Miguel Jimenez

Miguel Jimenez is an Assistant Professor at Boston University, where he runs el Microbial Integration Group. The group integrates engineered microorganisms with mechanical and electronic devices for applications in human health, agriculture, the environment, and entertainment.

Sarah Hartley

Technology governance is concerned with the decisions that shape how technology is funded, developed, regulated, tested, and deployed – it determines technology trajectories. My social science research takes a critical look at the politics and power in these governance decisions, particularly in efforts to open-up these expert spaces to diverse knowledge, values and visions through engagement and knowledge co-production – features that have become prevalent in technology governance in recent years. I’m particularly interested in the value tensions that exist in and between science and society when governance decisions are opened-up and, importantly, how to manage these tensions more effectively. I focus on the development and risk assessment of emerging technologies, particularly the biotechnologies (gene drive, genome-editing, genetic modification of animals, especially insects) and AL/digital technology applications in environment and agriculture. I am Co-Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Environmental Intelligence.

Biomarkers US 2024

Discover the latest advancements in biomarkers at the 8th Annual Biomarker & Precision Medicine US Congress. Join experts from global pharma, top biotechs, and renowned academic institutions to explore emerging tools and strategies in translational science, diagnostics, and biomarker development.

Built with industry experts in mind, the conference program highlights:
• Exciting biomarker technologies impacting R&D in 2024
• Multi-omics, spatial biology, digital markers, and next-gen diagnostics
• The opportunity to engage with regulators, diagnostics manufacturers, and biopharma peers

Willy A. Valdivia-Granda

I am the founder of Orion Integrated Biosciences. I lead a group of researchers developing new techniques to decode microbes’ genomic information and map short DNA fragments to their source of origin, virulence, and possible genetic manipulation. My research includes the use of artificial intelligence algorithms including large language models, neural networks, and generative adversarial networks to design a new generation of biotentities for biotechnology applications. I also lead the advancement of a new generation of analytical tools for risk assessment and early warning of biothreats that can affect health, trade, and national security. This work includes processing large data sets from multiple sources, including geospatial, trade, news outlets, security, and economic signals and indicators using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. I have research projects with collaborators in several countries within the European Union, New Zealand, Guinea, Ukraine, Colombia, and Brazil. I serve as a subject matter expert and adviser to several funding agencies and policymakers within the U.S. government, and Hong Kong Research Council overseeing funding programs of more than USD 200 Million. This role not only underscores the significance of our work but also facilitates the integration of computer science principles into the development of solutions for pressing global challenges in health and security.

Alexander Refsnes Andrassy

Research in cell culture models and synthetic biology innovations

Lynn Rothschild

Lynn Rothschild is passionate astrobiologist focusing on the origin and evolution of life on Earth and elsewhere, while at the same time pioneering the use of engineering biology to enable space exploration. Her research focuses on how life, particularly microbes, has evolved in the context of the physical environment, both here and potentially elsewhere. A graduate of Yale, Indiana University and Brown, she has brought her imagination and creativity to the burgeoning field of synthetic biology, articulating a vision for the future of synthetic biology as an enabling technology for NASA’s missions, including human space exploration and astrobiology. From 2011 through 2019 she served as the faculty advisor of the Stanford-Brown iGEM team. Her lab tested these plans in space on in the PowerCell secondary payload on the DLR EuCROPIS satellite. A past-president of the Society of Protozoologists, she is a fellow of the Linnean Society of London, The California Academy of Sciences and the Explorer’s Club. She was awarded the Isaac Asimov Award from the American Humanist Association, and the Horace Mann Award from Brown University. She has been a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) fellow seven times. Lynn was formerly Professor (Adjunct) at Stanford where she taught “Astrobiology and Space Exploration” for a decade.

Ian Blaby

Dr Blaby received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK, as a Medical Research Council (MRC) fellowship recipient. After post-doctoral positions at the University of Florida and UCLA (supported by an NIH fellowship), he co-led a DOE Science Focus Area centered on functional genomics of phototrophs at Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY. Since 2019 he heads the DNA synthesis platform at the Joint Genome Institute, where he leads three groups focused on HTP DNA design and assembly, strain engineering and bioinformatic tool development/data analysis.

Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy

CB Gurumurthy (Guru), BVSC, MVSC, PHD, Exec MBA is the Director of Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, Nebraska and he is also a professor in the department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy. He develops and improves mouse genome editing technologies. In collaboration with Dr Masato Ohtsuka, Tokai University, Japan, he has published several landmark papers on CRISPR genome engineering technologies. Two of their breakthrough technologies, Easi-CRISPR and i-GONAD, are now widely adapted at core facilities and laboratories. Several hundreds to thousands of mouse models are generated each year using their methods. Guru has received over 100 invitations within USA and over 20 invitations from 12 countries to deliver keynote talks or presentations, to organize workshops and to chair sessions at conferences. He is one of the six researchers to receive inaugural Outstanding Genomic Innovator award from the National Human Genome Research Institute.

Nils Averesch

Nils is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida (UF). Before joining UF, Nils was a Research Engineer at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University and an Associate Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science and Astrobiology Division. Nils holds a PhD in Metabolic Engineering from the University of Queensland, Australia and an engineer’s degree in Biochemical Engineering from the Technical University of Dortmund, Germany.

Nils’ research comprises the rational engineering of microbial metabolism to increase the carbon efficiency of biochemical pathways for the assimilation of single-carbon compounds and the conversion thereof into advanced biomaterials. This serves the overarching goal to create a sustainable chemical industry on Earth “on the way” to new frontiers: developing circular production platforms based on microbial biotechnology could one day also support crewed long-duration space-exploration missions and -settlement.

Aditya Sarnaik

Aditya Pandharinath Sarnaik is an Associate Research Professional in the School for Sustainable Engineering and Built Environment (SSEBE) at Arizona State University (Polytechnic campus). He works at Arizona Centre for Algal Technology and Innovation (AzCATI). He is a Biotechnology graduate and a trained biochemical engineer, with expertise in bacterial (photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic) metabolic and protein engineering. He has experience with upstream as well as downstream processing/ process optimization of (engineered and wild-type) cyanobacteria at pilot scale.

Tiara Rahayu

Tiara is Biotechnology enthusiast. Loving the world with collaboration in science, content creator, leadership in community, moderator event, and science communicator. My interests are about Biomedical informatics, genetic for disease, cancer genomics and precision oncology such as biomarkers. I have a sharing platform on @ngolabs for expand my network and get out more knowledge. Now, I’m being student research in National Research and Innovation Agency for handling Biomarker of HPV.

Anna Duraj-Thatte

Anna Duraj-Thatte received her Ph.D. from Georgia Institute of Technology, wherein she worked on protein engineering and directed evolution. Then she pursued her postdoctoral research at Wyss Institute, Harvard University. Dr. Duraj-Thatte’s research focuses on designing and developing novel strategies to produce smart engineered living materials (ELMs) by integrating the fields of synthetic biology, materials engineering, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence (AI). Over the last eight years, she has been developing the field of ELMs by demonstrating one of the first examples of therapeutic living materials and macroscopic transient self-regenerating
materials for environmental applications. Her research work has also been featured in global media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, New Scientist, CBS Boston, and Science Alert. She received the Grand Prize in the American National Science Foundation (NSF) Idea Machine competition. She was also selected as a Deep Tech Pioneer and member of Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Incubation Program.

Elibio Rech

Elibio Rech, a molecular engineer, geneticist, Researcher at EMBRAPA, and Director of the National Institute of Science and Technology in Synthetic Biology, developed gene transfer technologies to produce commercial genetically modified plant products. Aim to contribute to the design, construction, and engineering of synthetic genomes, cell-free protein expression, and building cell and synthetic genetic circuits, combining top-down and bottom-up approaches within the synergies and intersections of the recombinant DNA technology for synthetic domestication of specific traits from biodiversity.

Theresa Loveless

Theresa Loveless received her Ph.D. in Cell Biology from UCSF, where she studied the molecular biology of DNA replication and the DNA damage response. As a postdoctoral researcher in synthetic biology, in the laboratory of Chang Liu at UC Irvine, she made DNA recorders, synthetic biology tools that transform transient events in a cell’s life into durable changes in a small “recording” region of the cell’s genome. Theresa just started her independent laboratory in the Department of BioSciences at Rice University. The goal of the lab is to make DNA recorders that document the activation history of many signaling pathways in parallel, in physiological settings, over the whole timescale of developmental processes. These recorders will make it possible to study how transient events that are experienced heterogeneously across populations of cells affect the later behavior of each cell. Theresa is a Leading Edge Fellow and a MOSAIC K99/R00 Scholar.

Synthetic Biology US 2024

Don’t miss Synthetic Biology US 2024! Join leading omics experts and researchers for a two-day event accelerating the development of synthetic biology tools to enable effective therapeutics development.

Returning for the 3rd year, the 2024 event again brings together a panel of prominent leaders and scientists, sharing new case studies, original data and industry outlook. Connect, collaborate, and innovate with global academic and research organisations, as well as pharma representatives, for high-level discussions on pioneering approaches to developing advanced synthetic biology tools for target discovery, production optimisation, AI/ML approaches as well as synthetic biology-based therapeutics case studies.

Mark your calendar to be part of this dynamic gathering!

3rd Annual Oligonucleotides Congress

Oxford Global’s 3rd Annual Oligonucleotides Congress, 13 – 15 March 2023, London, UK, will be attended by over 500 industry innovators to network about the latest advancements in oligonucleotide chemistry. Key leaders will be delving into novel platforms & technologies for the successful delivery of oligonucleotides, the development of greener synthetic processes, as well as innovative computational approaches & methods for discovery and analytical development.

Alongside our in-depth presentations will be regular networking breaks, giving you the chance to connect and collaborate with other experts in your field and learn more about solutions and services on offer to accelerate your work.

Co-located with the 17th Annual Proteins & Antibodies Congress, 11th Annual Peptides Congress and 2nd Annual Sustainability in Biologics Congress, these events will deliver over 80 exciting industry presentations across 3 days and providing unparalleled opportunity for high level scientific discussion.

Organ Modelling and 3D Cell Culture 2024

Connecting leaders in drug discovery to optimise organ modelling techniques and facilitate advanced applications.

Formulation & Delivery 2024

Learn from and meet leading experts in pharmaceutical science, addressing the critical strategic advances and technical innovation in formulation, drug delivery, RNA therapeutics & inhaled therapies.

The 2024 event will be opened by the highly acknowledged expert Thomas von Erlach, Chief Scientific Officer at Vivtex highlighting Drug Delivery Systems For Biologics. This is the event to attend to stay ahead of the curve.

Key focuses this year include:
Small Molecule Drug Formulation – showcasing AI-driven automation in formulation processes and a panel on the ongoing progress in sustainable manufacturing

Biologics Drug Delivery – encompassing strategies for improved oral delivery and a feature workshop on characterisation of exosomes for drug delivery

Bioanalysis: Stability, Characterisation, Developability – covering protein characterisation, aggregation prevention, and digital twins for advanced lyophilisation

Small Molecule Drug Delivery – highlighting a workshop on PROTAC drug delivery for improved bioavailability and enhanced targeting

Biologics and New Modalities Formulation – emphasising advances in vaccine formulations and longer-acting forms