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.

EBRC 2024 Council Retreat

The EBRC 2024 Council Meeting will take place at the University of Delaware, in Newark, DE November 14-15, 2024.

Travel Support and Meeting Hotel:
We anticipate covering airfare and hotel expenses for EBRC Academic Council Members. To book your flights, please contact us at travel@ebrc.org. Please review EBRC’s revised travel policy.

Hotel information will be provided soon.

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. Proof of vaccination will be required for attendance. A rapid antigen testing strategy may also be deployed depending on conditions. Meals will be provided outside.

Full schedule of SPA events

The EBRC SPA is looking forward to a full schedule of events this year! Information will be updated as it becomes available, learn more here.

Sebastian Rivera

Sebastian Rivera is a Program Manager at the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, focusing on AIxBio and Security. Prior to EBRC, he was a NIH Chemistry-Biology Interface Training Fellow at the University of Michigan, where his research focused on identifying and characterizing fungal enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of drug-like molecules. Additionally, he received a certificate in Science, Technology, and Public Policy through the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan. As a Science Policy Postdoctoral Researcher with EBRC, he helped lead programs around nucleic acid synthesis screening and independently researched risk mitigation strategies for AI-enabled biological design tools. When he isn’t working, Sebastian is rock climbing, playing the latest RPGs, or exploring the local food scene.

Julietta Sheng

Julietta Sheng is a Program Manager at the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, focusing on Education and Community. Prior to EBRC, she was a Career Enhancement Core Scholar with the Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON-X), a collaboration between Colorado State University and Massachusetts General Hospital – Boston. Through ICON-X, she partnered with bioengineers, clinicians, and academics to enhance evidence-based research, identify scientific challenges, and develop creative solutions.

Julietta recently earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences – Neuroscience with Drs. Stuart Tobet and Robert J. Handa at Colorado State University with a focus on sex differences in the brain and body that lead to neuropsychiatric disorders.

Outside of work, Julietta likes to play kickball, read psychological thrillers, and go on long walks with her puppos.

Neil Dalvie

Neil Dalvie did his PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT, studying therapeutic protein manufacturing. Now, he is a Schmidt Science Fellow in the Synthetic Biology Hive at Harvard Medical School. Neil researches large-scale bioprocessing for mineral processing and is interested in the ethics and regulation of environmental bioengineering.

Cameron Roots

Cameron is a recent graduate and postdoctoral fellow in the Barrick Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. He completed his B.S. in biochemistry and in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of Washington. Afterwards, he completed a postbactorial study at the National Institutes of Health as an IRTA fellow. His current research is at the intersection of synthetic and evolutionary biology, exploring how engineered systems are prone to mutation and developing tools to help researchers keep theirs stable. His prior policy activities include institutional policy initiatives within the UT Austin Interdisciplinary Life Sciences programs; independent study and programming as a Graduate Archer Fellow; and as an intern on biomanufacturing, biosecurity, and AIxBio federal policy.

Efrain Rodriguez-Ocasio

Efrain Rodriguez Ocasio is originally from Puerto Rico and graduated from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez with a B.S. in Industrial Biotechnology. During his undergraduate studies, Efrain served as a trustee on the Governing Board of the University of Puerto Rico, which oversees the 11 campuses of Puerto Rico’s public University. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University, where he developed microbial platforms for plastic waste upcycling and earned the ISU Research Excellence Award. Efrain is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research integrates metabolic and process modeling to identify new production targets for the decarbonization of the chemical industry and synthetic biology for industrial strain development.

Ross Klauer

Ross Klauer is a PhD candidate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. Ross is co-advised by Dr. Mark Blenner and Dr. Kevin Solomon. Ross’ research focuses on elucidating the polyethylene deconstruction pathway in the digestive system of plastic-eating yellow mealworms. He is working to identify and engineer enzymes for polyethylene deconstruction. Outside of lab, Ross enjoys playing soccer and is a competitive cornhole player.

Engineering Biology Metrics and Technical Standards for the Global Bioeconomy

Publication Date: May 2024

Coordinated by Imperial College London, EBRC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National University of Singapore (NUS), with support from Schmidt Sciences, this report responds to the need for standards and metrics and the lack of clarity on which standards to prioritize to aid the safe and efficient commercialization of engineering biology. The report identifies 10 key focus areas, including data standards, common definitions, metrics to quantify and scale up biological processes, and non-technical areas vital for the growth of the bioeconomy, including public engagement and regulatory clarity.

From Intent to Impact: Enabling Transdisciplinary Research for Responsible Scientific Stewardship

Publication Date: March 2024 | Originally published in the Journal of Science Policy & Governance

Global challenges are complex and must be tackled in a holistic manner. Understanding and addressing them requires collaboration across disciplines, often uniting the humanities and social and natural sciences, to ask better questions and identify practical and revolutionary solutions. Universities can be excellent vehicles for transformational change as they educate the next generation of civically-motivated thinkers to create meaningful action and impact. Too often systemic, artificial barriers exist within these institutions that prevent meaningful transdisciplinary collaboration from succeeding. We recommend that universities identify grand challenges and foster a culture of cross-department collaboration with appropriate internal and external resources to enable broader impacts. Together, funders and institutional policymakers play a critical strategic role in fostering civic scientists and transdisciplinary researchers to solve multifaceted global problems.

Transforming trash: strategies to develop waste into a feedstock for a circular bioeconomy

Publication Date: February 2024 | Originally published in Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining.

A strategy to develop agriculture and food production waste into biomanufacturing feedstocks that leverages existing, local waste streams; engineering biology; broad stakeholder collaboration; and federal coordination.

US-UK Engineering Biology Reception

The UK Science and Innovation Network is holding an in-person reception at 4:30pm ET on May 15 at Georgia Tech ahead of the EBRC Annual Meeting. Recognizing the critical need for international collaboration in harnessing engineering biology to address global challenges, and with clear overlapping areas of focus set out by both countries in the 2022 US Bioeconomy Executive Order and 2023 UK National Vision for Engineering Biology, this event aims to explore avenues to deepen the collaborative ties between both countries.

We invite all Annual Meeting participants to attend this event! Please register by May 6, 2024.

Register here

The reception will feature panel discussions on key challenges for engineering biology, with representation from the US and UK, and will conclude with informal networking to celebrate the power of cooperation in engineering biology. An agenda and additional programmatic information will be available soon.

Please reach out to Garrett Dunlap at garrett.dunlap@fcdo.gov.uk with any questions.

Addressing the Climate Crisis Through Engineering Biology

Publication Date: February 2024 | Originally published in npj Climate Action.

A companion piece to Engineering Biology for Climate & Sustainability: A Research Roadmap for a Cleaner Future, this publication features discussion of engineering biology research and development opportunities to impact climate change and long-term environmental sustainability, including why and how engineering biology and subsequent biotechnologies should be among the most prominent of approaches to overcoming the climate crisis. This publication also helps to contextualize the roadmap and advancement in engineering biology with broader policy, investment, and social considerations.

Enabling Quality, Measurable Synthetic DNA Sequence Screening

This project aims to improve DNA synthesis screening by enabling the development of better tools and mechanisms for screening performance evaluation.

Security Considerations at the Intersection of Engineering Biology and Artificial Intelligence

Publication Date: November 2023

This white paper describes three areas at the intersection of engineering biology and artificial intelligence that may yield significant security concerns: de novo biological design, closed-loop autonomous laboratories, and natural language Large Language Models. It describes each area, identifies potential security concerns, and offers ideas for the potential mitigation of those concerns, ultimately calling for an international forum to continually address this evolving issue.

NIST RFI on Implementation of US National Standards Strategy

Publication Date: November 2023

EBRC’s response to the request by NIST to support the Implementation of the United States Government National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology (USG NSSCET). With a focus on engineering biology technologies, we provide critical considerations for engaging private sector stakeholders in transparent, equitable, and accessible standards development activities.

Building a Robust Bioeconomy Workforce: A Policy Approach to Bridging the Gap in Undergraduate Experiential Learning

Publication Date: October 2023 | Originally published in Journal of Science Policy & Governance

This publication addresses the importance of hands-on learning and training opportunities in engineering biology education and workforce development, with information and recommendations sourced from EBRC Industry and Academic members.