EBRC 2023 Annual Meeting

We are excited to announce that registration for the EBRC 2023 Annual Meeting at Northwestern University on June 5-6, 2023 is now open. Registration is open to all EBRC academic members and their lab members, all employees of Industry Member companies, our government colleagues, and members of EBRC’s Student & Postdoc Association. We are also pleased to welcome all faculty, researchers, and trainees at Northwestern’s Center for Synthetic Biology to register and attend.

Register Here

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. View our draft agenda here. Note that we anticipate running until 5:00 PM on Tuesday, June 5.

Registration:
Please register here by May 3, 2023. To confirm your spot and offset some of the meal costs, there will be a nominal fee ($150 for faculty and $75 for students and postdocs). If this fee is prohibitive for you or your lab members, please email helix@ebrc.org.

Abstract submissions for posters are now being accepted. 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 posters are due on May 19, 2023

IMPORTANT DATES:
April 7: Last day to submit talk abstracts
April 21: Notification of talk selection
May 3: Registration closes*
May 5: Deadline for hotel and travel arrangements by EBRC
May 19: Last day to submit poster abstracts

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

Annual Meeting Venue:
Northwestern University
Norris Center
1999 Campus Dr
Evanston, IL 60208

Meeting Hotel:
EBRC has reserved a block of hotel rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1818 Maple Ave, Evanston, IL 60201 at $179.00 per night (includes breakfast and WiFi). Please indicate on the registration page if you will need hotel accommodations. We will reserve the room in our block. If your travel is not covered by EBRC, you can provide payment at check in. Please contact helix@ebrc.org with any questions rather than contacting the hotel directly.

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

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

The meeting will conclude at 5:00PM on Tuesday June 6 and we encourage those receiving travel support to find an evening flight out of Chicago O’Hare if at all possible. We will only cover Tuesday night hotel expenses with prior approval. Please contact helix@ebrc.org if you anticipate needing Tuesday night accommodations. Please also note that travel support does not include the confirmation/meal fee ($150 for faculty and $75 for students and postdocs). 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 5 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.

EBRC SPA Presents Data and Engineering Biology: Operating at the Technical Interface

The EBRC Student and Postdoc Association is hosting a Data and Engineering Biology: Operating at the Technical Interface panel event, where researchers can connect with professionals who operate and lead within ‘data-centric’ bioengineering companies.

Panelists will discuss 1) transitioning from their PhD to industry, 2) details about their current role, and 3) which data-specific skills are valued in their organization. The discussion will also cover how lab automation, data science, or DevOps platforms drive overall biology objectives at their companies. Join us virtually on December 6th, 2022 (2-3pm ET |11-12pm PT) on GatherTown by registering here.

Click here to view our flyer.

Please contact Eric South (esouth@bu.edu) if you have any questions.

Panelist Biographies

Diana Koulechova, Ph.D.
LinkedIn 
Diana is a Senior Scientist at Tierra Biosciences, where she works to improve and expand their cell-free protein synthesis platform, affecting their internal slogan of “Proteins for All.” Prior to joining Tierra, she developed processes and methods in biologics downstream development at the immunoncology company Agenus, and also prototyped a continuous processing system for biologics manufacturing at the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from University of California, Berkeley and has been in a variety of biochemistry fields ranging from homing endonucleases, protein folding, and somatosensation in C. elegans.

Ben Gordon, Ph.D.
LinkedIn
Ben is a Senior Director of Research at Asimov Inc. and a Director at the MIT / Broad Synthetic Biology Foundry. He has extensive experience in both managing and leading teams in computer-aided synthetic biology. Ben received a Ph.D. in Computational Biophysical Chemistry from Caltech, where he conducted work on computational protein design and engineering. He later became a Postdoctoral Associate at the Whitehead Institute and then a Principal Scientist and Strategic Collaborations Manager at Agilent Technologies. Ben is also a Program Manager at BioMADE – a Bioindustrial Manufacturing Innovation Institute.

Naomi Handly, Ph.D.
LinkedIn
Naomi is a quantitative cell biologist by training. At Octant, she’s had several roles including recruiting, establishing the OA program, building Octant HQ, demonstrating Octant’s multiplexed platform technology, building cell engineering, and more. Naomi received her PhD from the University of California, San Diego under Roy Wollman quantifying how cells communicate with one another to determine their position in relation to a wound. She’s passionate about bringing science to the public through effective scientific communication and meaningful technological advances.

Marilene Pavan, Ph.D.
LinkedIn
Marilene is a High-Throughput Synthetic Biology Manager at LanzaTech Inc., a carbon recycling technology company, specialized in converting waste carbon oxides into biofuels and chemicals. She is a Biologist with 15+ years of experience in the fields of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and biomanufacturing, with previous experience working for chemical industries like Braskem S/A and leading biotech companies as Monsanto S/A, She moved to the US in 2016 to work as Research Fellow at Boston University, later joining Lanzatech in 2019. Her expertise also includes partnerships (prospection and management); people management and mentorship; fundraising; business development; grant, patent, and scientific article writing; project evaluation and management; budget management; scientific consulting; and conference planning and speaking. She holds a master’s degree in Molecular Biology and is also specialized in Strategic Management of Technological Innovation. She is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in the Bioenergy Program of the University of Campinas, UNICAMP – Brazil.

EBRC Global Forum 2.0

This is an invitation-only event.

Registration has closed. 

VENUE

The Forum will be held at the Hotel Fort Canning. Our hosts in Singapore have procured an excellent reduced rate at the hotel for Forum attendees (details have been shared through email with those who have RSVPed yes to the Forum). Bookings at the reduced rate must be made by January 6, 2023. We recognize the tight timeline for the reduced rates. There are also other hotels nearby if you prefer to stay elsewhere, though we will not be able to provide reduced rates or transportation from other hotels. For your consideration, here are some other options for hotel booking (rates shown are as of 12/22/22, per night, flexible option with cancellation, no breakfast, and exclude taxes and fees):

• Hotel Fort Canning at the non-reduced rate (SGD 340)
• Citadines Connect City Centre Singapore (SGD 240); 6 min. walk/5 min. drive from Hotel Fort Canning
• 30 Bencoolen (277 SGD); 10 min. walk/5 min. drive from Hotel Fort Canning
  Many others in the area!

MEETING OVERVIEW

The second EBRC Global Forum for Engineering Biology: Review of Synthetic Biology/Bioeconomy National Strategies (EBRC Global Forum 2.0) will be held on the 20th and 21st of February 2023 in Singapore in partnership with the Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology (SINERGY). The Forum will bring together a group of global leaders for an international summit focused on national synthetic biology roadmaps and bioeconomy strategies. Our goal is to facilitate presentations and discussions among leading representatives in the field in a relaxed, not-for-attribution forum.

The two-day agenda will include:

• information exchanges and updates about the current status of national strategies and programs, funding, future directions, and challenges for each country represented at the EBRC Global Forum 2.0;
• discussions focused on the common elements, opportunities, and challenges for collaborative activities, and initiatives that will advance synthetic biology/engineering biology globally and nationally; and
• consideration to establish a virtual and ongoing Global Forum for Engineering Biology and, perhaps, task forces for specific topics such as safety and security; standards and measurement; and climate crisis/sustainability.

TRAVEL INFORMATION

Participants are expected to cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. We will facilitate room blocks and/or make recommendations for accommodation, but we will not be covering the costs. We have some limited ability, on a case-by-case basis, to fund travel for those who could not otherwise participate without travel funding assistance..