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.