CBF Profiles

  • Dr. Tamara (Tami) Goetz

    Tami served as the Governor’s State Science Advisor and during her tenure led in the creation of the Utah STEM Action Center in 2013, with the support of the Utah Legislature. Tami has over 20 years of creating STEM education and workforce development programs in partnerships across K-12 and higher education, industry and business, state agencies and cultural and community partners. She led the Center in the creation of the Utah STEM Foundation and works with numerous partners in collaborative research efforts to support promising and best practices in STEM program design and implementation. Dr. Goetz received the “40 Under 40 Rising Stars” and “30 Women to Watch” by Utah Business magazine, the Award of Merit by the National Association for Career and Technical Education, the Women Technology Council’s “Community Builder” and “Decade of Impact” award and the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology.

  • Philip G. Gibson

    Philip G. Gibson, Ph.D., works at the nexus of education, government, workforce and economic development industries. He has over 37 years of experience in technical education bringing industry together with an emerging workforce through designed preparatory systems. One of the most important of our challenges is to provide opportunity to those seeking it. We must make this a priority.

    Phil is the former Director of the Georgia BioScience Training Center. The training center is designed to train employees in biopharma manufacturing industries. It is a state-of-the-art training center capable of delivering biopharma manufacturing training on large-scale equipment typical to industry. As Director of the Georgia BioScience Training Center, Dr. Gibson orchestrated equipping, developing curriculum, delivering training, and industry interactions from inception until his retirement in March 2021.

    Dr. Gibson served as PI for a $1.2 MM NSF grant for implementation of an industry-recognized bioscience credential. He served as a consultant to the Talent Accelerator, Community College Workforce Alliance, and Brightpoint Community College in Virginia to create a talent pipeline for the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry initiative to reshore pharmaceutical manufacturing to the US. Additionally, he is Advisory Board Chair for Biotility at the University of Florida which provides high quality education, training, and credentialing to facilitate professional growth in the biotechnology and bioscience industries. He serves on the Workforce Advisory Board of the Healthspan Action Coalition (HSAC) supporting new medical strategies that intervene in the aging process. Dr. Gibson is currently Executive Director of the Georgia Life Sciences Institute at Georgia Life Sciences.

  • Dr. Megan Damico

    Dr. Megan Damico leads strategic initiatives to grow and organize North Carolina’s bioeconomy, driving interdisciplinary collaboration across life sciences and biotechnology to address complex challenges and unlock new opportunities. She joined NCBiotech in 2023 as a Focused Initiatives Team (FIT) intern, where she conducted foundational research and landscape analyses of the state’s bioeconomy, later serving as a NC STEM Policy Fellow supporting statewide economic and workforce development efforts. Prior to that, she was a Policy Entrepreneur and Bioeconomy Policy Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. Dr. Damico holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Health Sciences from UNC Greensboro.

  • Maria Chavez

    Maria Chavez is president of BioCurious, a community biotechnology lab where she has volunteered since 2011. Chavez has been the co-organizer of the Global Community Bio Summit for the past six years and is co-organizer of the Bio Summit Leadership Fellows program. Her primary focus includes the creation of more community science spaces and the push to democratize science participation globally. She serves on the board of the Momental Foundation, a grantmaking foundation whose grants support independence in early-career scientific research. She also serves on the board of the Real Vegan Cheese Project, has led two International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) teams, was a member of the Open Insulin Project, and has been in a leadership position for multiple community lab science projects. Chavez has a BS/IT in Programming and Operating Systems and an MBA in Global Management, both from the University of Phoenix.

  • Jacqueline Clifford

    Bio coming soon.

  • Hunter Brown

    Hunter Brown is an Associate Program Manager at BioMADE, where he works to expand the biomanufacturing workforce and advance the economic potential of industrial biotechnology. He oversees the full project lifecycle, from helping develop project calls to managing funded projects, all aimed at reshoring advanced biomanufacturing jobs and ultimately strengthening U.S. leadership in the global bioeconomy.

  • Angela Consani

    Angela is a nationally recognized leader in skills‑based credentialing for the life sciences workforce. With over 15 years of experience in bioscience education—from K–12 through community college—and a strong background in manufacturing and operations, she brings a rare blend of classroom insight and industry practice.

    Prior to founding BCSI in 2020, Angela directed the NSF‑ATE‑funded Kansas City Kansas Biomanufacturing Training Lab (a collaboration between KCKCC and KCK Public Schools), where she built and managed pathways from high school into industry careers. Her leadership helped embed hands‑on training and performance‑based credentialing into regional bioscience education.

    At a national level, Angela contributes her expertise as co‑chair of NIIMBL’s Workforce Activities Committee efforts, serves on InnovATEBio’s National Advisory Committee, and the Industry Advisory Board for the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing.

  • Callie R. Chappell

    Dr. Callie Chappell (they/them) is an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology at Stanford University. Callie’s work focuses on the environmental and social implications of bioengineered organisms that live outside the lab, such as genetically modified microbes. Callie was a fellow with the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University, leading a project promoting community biology labs (“LABraries”) as sites for community-led biodesign innovation. Callie is also a professional artist and led an arts and bioengineering summer camp, BioJam.

  • Janet Standeven

    An educator with 28 years of classroom experience in Core Sciences, Social Sciences and Biotechnology. Founded the Lambert iGEM program in 2012. In 2022 Lambert’s team was named the Grand Prize Winner of the iGEM Jamboree. The iGEM competition is the leading collegiate competition in the field of synthetic biology. She is a 2022 recipient of a NIH SEPA grant with Dr. Bhamla of Georgia Institute of Technology. In collaboration with members of the Bhamla lab she leads students in research and development of synthetic biology projects that also include hardware and software components. Ongoing projects include the ElectroPen, a 23 cent electroporator and other frugal devices for extraction of DNA and quantification of data.

    Ms. Standeven received a BA in Anthropology and Social Studies Teaching Certificate from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She earned her Master of Chemical Life Science from the University of Maryland in 2013. During her master’s studies she was a recipient of a G.I.F.T. fellowship with the Styczynski Group at Georgia Institute of Technology and subsequently received RET, support with the Styczynski group from 2014-2018. She is a recipient of numerous teaching awards and recognitions including Teacher of the Year in 2011 for Riverwatch Middle School, 2018 for Lambert High School, Forsyth County School STAR teacher in 2019 and 2023, in addition to being recognized as Biotechnology Teacher of the Year in Georgia for 2016. She was an attendee at the White House Bioeconomy Summit in 2019. She currently participates on the Human Practices committee for the iGEM foundation and serves as a Master Teacher for GABIO’s Rural Teacher Training Initiative.

  • Cameron Kim

    Cameron Kim is Assistant Professor of the Practice in Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Duke University and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in BME. He also holds appointments as Associate Faculty in the Duke Science & Society Initiative and as a member of the Duke Center for Advanced Genomic Technologies. Kim’s research focuses on engineering education in synthetic biology, mentoring students in molecular and cellular engineering, design thinking, and team-based problem solving to address novel challenges in gene and cell-based therapies. He serves as the research advisor for the Duke International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) team, guiding students in responsible innovation and ethics-guided design of emerging biotechnologies. Kim’s educational scholarship centers on cultivating character, ethical reasoning, and professional formation in engineering students, culminating in the Duke BME “Ethics Everywhere” model of integrating ethics and values into technical training. He earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering at Stanford University, where his research focused on RNA engineering in mammalian synthetic biology.

  • Devin Camenares

    My career dedication to biotechnology education and the growth of the bioeconomy is best exemplified by my involvement with iGEM – over a decade with roles spanning volunteer, team mentor, judge, and After-iGEM committee member. After earning my PhD in Molecular Biology from Stony Brook University in 2013, I taught biology and mentored teams at both Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn (New York City) and at Alma College, in rural-mid Michigan. Currently I am involved in growing the bioeconomy from a different vantage point as a Synthetic Biologist at the University of Dayton Research Institute. However, I am also continuing educational outreach and community building through the Great Lakes SynBio Association. GLSB is a nonprofit I co-founded that is dedicated to the growth of the bioeconomy in the Midwestern US. I was recently selected as a ‘Next Generation Leader’ at the ‘Spirit of Asilomar and Future of Biotechnology’ summit. I’ve seen firsthand both the awesome power biotechnology has to motivate students, as well as the waning participation and excellence the US has in iGEM first, and eventually the field writ large.

    Apart from time in the lab or meetings (at UDRI or beyond), you can find me spending time with my wife and two daughters (9yo and 8mo). I am also an avid chess and tennis player, a member of the Society of Catholic Scientists, and an ardent Mets fan.

  • Marilene Pavan

    Currently working as Scientist at LanzaTech Inc., I am a professional with 12+ years of experience in the fields of synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and biomanufacturing. Expertise also include: partnerships (prospection and management), people management and mentorship, fundraising, business development, writing of grants, patents, and scientific articles, project management, budget management, scientific consulting, planning of scientific conferences, speaker.

  • Jesse Zalatan

    Jesse Zalatan is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Washington. His research focuses on understanding the physical organizing principles of biological networks in systems such as cell signaling, metabolism, and gene regulation, using methods ranging from mechanistic enzymology to synthetic biology. Jesse did his graduate work with Dan Herschlag on the mechanisms of enzyme-catalyzed phosphoryl transfer reactions. He performed postdoctoral research with Wendell Lim, where he studied mechanisms for controlling specificity in cell signaling networks.

  • Mark Styczynski

    Mark Styczynski is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. At Georgia Tech, he is currently the director of the BioEngineering interdisciplinary graduate program. He founded and was the first president of the Metabolomics Association of North America (MANA) and is currently the academic chair of EBRC’s Education and Engagement working group. His research is in synthetic and systems biology, with a significant emphasis on the development of biosensors and diagnostics.

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