Aggregated

Hunter Johnson

hunter.johnson@berkeley.edu

Engineering human pluripotent stem cell technologies for tissue modeling and cell therapy

Berkeley, CA, US

Co-founder and Head of Platform Development at Axent Biosciences

Axent Biosciences

Developing next-generation stem cell therapies to address unmet medical needs in human health.

Founder

I grew up on a deer farm that is now a rescue miniature pony farm!

University of California, Berkeley

PhD Student—year 3

David Schaffer

stem cell bioengineering, biomaterials, cellular biomanufacturing, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, optogenetics

Michelle Teplensky

m.teplensky@northwestern.edu

I use rational design to build nanoscale structured therapeutic vaccines to treat cancer. By taking advantage of structure-function relationships between vaccine design and efficacy, we can harness vaccine architecture, in addition to composition, to improve potency.

Cambridge, MA, US

Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University

Boston University

Engineering nanotechnology to control immunological cell connectivity, processing, and communication by design.

PI

Recently done some Spartan obstacle races and I'm hooked - I love them.

Northwestern University

Postdoc

Chad Mirkin

nanotechnology, nanomedicine, immunotherapeutics

Soufiane Aboulhouda

soufiane_ab@g.harvard.edu

Our research group in the Church Lab carries out pooled, barcoded, and combinatorial in-vivo functional genomics to study and control the biology of cell trafficking. Our goal is to enhance the efficacy and safety of cellular therapies targeting solid tumors.

Cambridge, MA, US

CEO and Chairman of the Board at Nucleate

Nucleate

Empowering tomorrow's biotech leaders by educating today's academic trainees

?

Harvard Wyss Institute

PhD Student—year 4+

George Church

Cell Therapy, Gene Editing, T-cells, SynBio, Immunology

David McIntyre

dpmc@bu.edu

I combine machine-learning guided design and rapid prototyping to build high-throughput droplet microfluidic screening platforms. Currently, I am working on an interdisciplinary team to apply these platforms to develop environmental biosensors using memory elements from synthetic biology.

Cambridge, MA, US

Senior Scientist at Pearl Bio

Pearl Bio

Harnessing the power of synthetic biology to build next-gen biomaterials for smart biologics

Early stage startup

I have a hot-dog themed trophy and article in the school newspaper on my exploits as an amateur competitive eater.

Boston University

PhD Student—year 3

Douglas Densmore

microfluidics; machine learning; synthetic biology; lab automation

Floris Engelhardt

floris.engelhardt@gmail.com

I'm working on biotechnological production of single-stranded DNA to bring DNA Nanotechnology out of the lab and into patient's lives.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Kano Therapeutics

Kano Therapeutics

Working in Biomolecular Design and DNA Nanotechnology, eager to transfer visions into science and science into real-world applications.

Founder

My middle name is Alaska.

MIT

Postdoc

Mark Bathe

DNA Nanotechnology, Synthetic Biology, Industrial Biotechnology

Dylan Cable

dylanmcable@gmail.com

Computational and statistical methods for spatial transcriptomics (spatial RNA sequencing). Cell type identification and cell type-specific differential expression through probabilistic topic modeling. The goal is to detect genes that vary in response to spatial location, cellular environment, or disease, with applications to brain tissue, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.

Cambridge, MA, US

000 Not sure

I go for a 1.5 hour bike ride once per week!

MIT

PhD Student—year 3

Fei Chen, Rafael Irizarry

Background in mathematics, computer science, and statistics. Current research in computational and statistical methodology, spatial transcriptomics, RNA-sequencing. Prior research in probability theory, computational neuroscience. Also interested in therapeutics discovery and metabolic engineering.

Akos Nyerges

nyergesakos@gmail.com

I am working on an entirely synthetic bacterial genome in George Church's lab that will rely on 59 genetic codons only and enable new-to-nature bioprocesses.

Cambridge, MA, US

Research Associate in Genetic at George Church's Lab, Harvard University

Harvard University

Genome and Genetic Code Engineering

Postdoc?

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George M. Church

Synthetic genomics, Genome engineering, Directed evolution, Drug development

Jocelyn (Josie) Kishi

josie@digit.bio

I'm building a spatial biology platform to enable high dimensional multi-omic screening of therapeutics. Ultimately I want to combine the multi-modal datasets from the platform with machine learning to generate deep insights into drug discovery.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and President

Dibital Biology

Building a precision measurement platform to streamline design of next-generation therapies.

Founder

I once cooked dinner for Stephen Hawking.

Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Postdoc

Peng Yin

DNA nanotechnology, DNA synthesis, DNA-based imaging tools, nucleic acid barcoding, spatial -omics, AI-based drug discovery

Carmen Martin Alonso

mcm114@mit.edu

By leveraging tools from nanomedicine, I am developing a liquid biopsy “contrast agent” that will boost the quantitative recovery of circulating biomarker molecules, enhancing its sensitivity for early cancer detection. In addition, I am also developing tools to further our understanding of protease dysregulation in cancer. These tools are particularly well suited to inform the design of protease-activatable immunotherapies, an emerging therapeutic modality that exploits the fundamental differences in protease biology between normal tissues and tumors to selectively target cancer cells and overcome the otherwise dose-limiting toxicity of promising immunotherapies.

Cambridge, MA, US

Founding Scientist, Program Lead at Amplifyer Bio

Amplifyer Bio

Unleashing the power of liquid biopsy

Founder

Love languages, currently learning Greek

MIT, Harvard

PhD Student—year 3

Sangeeta Bhatia

Early detection of cancer, liquid biopsy, nanomedicine, protease biology

Sachit Saksena

sachit@mit.edu

Broadly, I work on machine-learning guided biological discovery and experimental design. Currently, I am working on methods for the generative design of synthetic antibody libraries that can expedite discovery of novel therapeutics with optimal developability characteristics. I am also working on inferring the peptide-MHC interactions of the tuberculosis proteome in order to computationally design novel peptide vaccines with optimal population coverage. Recently, I developed a generative model of longitudinal single-cell RNA-seq for inferring "differentiation potential" landscapes, enabling simulation of trajectories for cells with complex in silico genetic perturbations.

Cambridge, MA, US

Senior Associate at Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering

VC

I was born on an island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean called Curaçao!

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD Student—year 3

David Gifford

generative models; generalizable machine learning; single-cell transcriptomics; antibody therapeutics; vaccine design

Anastasia Ershova

aershova@g.harvard.edu

I am working on novel DNA self-assembly strategies that can allow us to robustly build micron-scale structures with nano-scale features for algorithmic assembly, nanofabrication, and diagnostics.

Cambridge, MA, US

Staff Scientist I - Molecular Robotics, Wyss Insitute at Harvard University

Harvard University

Working molecular robitics

Postdoc/Scientist

I am native in three languages!

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 3

William Shih

Current research interests: DNA nanotechnology, molecular programming, diagnostics, nucleation, self-assembly, bioengineering

Background: pharmacology, materials science, data science

Anika Gupta

anikagupta@g.harvard.edu

I’m inferring causal gene regulation from stochastic transcriptional variation in cells at steady state. I’ve developed and tested theory on time-shifted co-variation between gene pairs that can be used to infer causality from observational single cell RNA-seq data.

Cambridge, MA, US

Life Sciences Principal Life Sciences at Google Ventures

Google Ventures

Building and investing in the next generation of biotech companies improving patient lives.

VC

My first kiss was with a stingray!

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 3

Eric Lander, Soumya Raychaudhuri

Single cell genomics; machine learning; causal inference; gene regulation; bioinformatics

Samuel Goldman

samlg@mit.edu

Nature uses a vast repertoire of enzymes to synthesize complicated metabolites. I'm broadly interested in building computational tools to understand these natural biosynthetic pathways and how we can design new, enzymatic synthesis routes. My current research aims to better model the substrate specificity of enzymes to improve computationally suggested synthesis routes.

Cambridge, MA, US

Associate at MPM BioImpact

MPM BioImpact

Building companies to transform patient outcomes

VC

In a past life, I was on my collegiate wrestling team.

MIT Computational and Systems Biology

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Dr. Connor Coley

biocatalysis, machine learning, bioretrosynthesis, metabolomics

Emerson Glassey

emersonglassey@gmail.com

Development of small molecule inhibitors of viral infection. Using directed evolution to identify peptide-based therapeutics.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Aaron Schmidt Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Developing antiviral small molecules.

Postdoc

Gut renovating a house in my spare time

Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard

Postdoc

Aaron Schmidt

drug discovery, infectious disease, peptide therapeutics, virology, directed evolution

Meilin Zhu

mzhu@broadinstitute.org

I’m broadly interested in how microbial communities can be shaped and manipulated across health and disease. Whether antibiotic resistance in infection or dysbiosis in vaginal microbiomes, bacteria exert profound effects on human health. To both screen for antibiotics and uncover rules governing microbial consortia, I develop nanofabricated technologies that enable me to conduct hundreds of thousands of multiplexed experiments in parallel for screening synergistic drug combinations, robust bacterial community compositions, and everything in between.

Cambridge, MA, US

Scientist at Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT and Harvard

Ragon Institute

Working on women’s health & the vaginal microbiome

Academia: Scientist

I bought a pogo stick during the pandemic.

MIT Biological Engineering

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Paul Blainey

microbiome, antibiotics, transcriptomics

Zachary Chiang

zchiang17@gmail.com

I develop new DNA sequencing technologies to understand how the genome is regulated across space and time. One of these technologies, in situ genome sequencing, enables us to simultaneously measure the 3D organization (XYZ) and sequence content (ACGT) of the genome at the earliest stages of life. I believe that developing new technologies like these will allow us to better harness the natural plasticity of the genome for regenerative medicine.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Fellow at Jason Buenrostro Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Engineering epigenomes to acquire new cellular functions.

Postdoc

I co-created a popular baseball statistics blog in high school

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Jason Buenrostro

spatial genomics, single-cell genomics, stem cells, regenerative medicine

Oliver Dodd

oliver@remora-tx.com

High throughput, in-vivo pooled screening of cellular therapies.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and COO, Treasurer at Nucleate Bio

Nucleate Bio

Empowering tomorrow's biotech leaders by educating today's academic trainees

Founder

Avid kiteboarder!

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

George Church

cell and gene therapy, oncology, platelet biology, drug delivery, immunology

Salil Bhate

bhate@stanford.edu

I build theoretical approaches to represent biological systems, applying these to model tissue imaging datasets to gain basic biological insights into how tissues work as well as to understand the immune tumor microenvironment for improving cancer therapies.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Fellow at Juan Caicedo and Caroline Uhler Lab, Broad Institute

Broad Institute

Developing new ways to represent biological systems and use them to gain basic and translational insights into engineering tissue development (e.g. of the cancer/immune microenvironment) with the aid of high-parameter molecular datasets (imaging/single-cell) and new algorithmic tools (AI, compositionality,...).

Postdoc

My lockdown hobby is singing Indian classical music!

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Garry Nolan

Spatial omics, machine learning, theoretical biology

Jack Silberstein

jsilb@stanford.edu

My research is focused on exploring how immunomodulatory proteins can be used to fight autoimmune diseases. Using protein engineering, I have created novel, proprietary therapeutics that are currently being tested in multiple autoimmune models.

Cambridge, MA, US

Founder and CEO at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Founder

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Dr. Jennifer Cochran

Protein engineering, therapeutics development

Shirin Shivaei

shivaei.shirin@gmail.com

Developing acoustic reporter genes for noninvasive imaging of cellular activity in vivo

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Mikhail Shapiro Lab at Caltech

Caltech

Combining ultrasound imaging and synthetic biology to enable noninvasive imaging of biological processes deep inside the body.

PhD

I can (pretend to) speak 6 languages!

Caltech

PhD Student—year 3

Mikhail Shapiro

Synthetic biology, protein engineering, cell therapies, molecular imaging.

Namita Bisaria

nbisaria@gmail.com

Current work is exploring new biology for delivering RNAs.

Cambridge, MA, US

Head of Research Strategy and Operations at AIRNA

AIRNA

Aiming to advance a pipeline of RNA editing therapeutics driven by its powerful and flexible RNA editing platform, RESTORE+.

Late stage startup

I can surf. I also went on a tree climbing expedition.

Boston Children's Hospital

EIR - post post doc

Ryan Flynn

mRNA therapeutics, glycobiology

Jonathan Strecker

strecker@broadinstitute.org

Characterization of novel CRISPR systems and development of genome editing tools.

Cambridge, MA, US

Assistant Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Exploring the diversity of proteins and biological systems that recognize and manipulate nucleic acids, and to apply these discoveries to enable new capabilities in biology.

PI

After being sent home during the COVID lockdown, I bought Legos and bicycle parts.

MIT, Broad Institute

Postdoc

Feng Zhang

Genome stability and genome engineering

Leonardo Ferreira

leomrferreira@gmail.com

Designing and developing the next generation of engineered immune cell therapies for autoimmune disease and cancer. This involves engineering the specificity and function of human regulatory and effector T cells with artificial immune receptors, such as chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), as well as genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9.

Charleston County, SC, US

Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Immunology at Medical University of South Carolina

The Medical University of South Carolina

Designing and developing engineered immune cell therapies for autoimmune disease, cancer, and aging

PI

I don't drink coffee and I used to compete in ballroom dancing

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Postdoc

Qizhi Tang and Jeff Bluestone

Immune tolerance, genome editing, cell therapy, autoimmunity, cancer, diet

Mahdi Hasani

mmhs@ucla.edu

Designing next-generation biomaterials to orchestrate immune system in order to boost the response against cancers and infectious diseases

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, CA, US

Assistant Research Professor at Cornell University

Cornell University

Developing bio-inspired materials and platforms that can change the way we approach treatment for cancer and autoimmune diseases

PI?

UCLA Bioengineering

Research Scientist

Song Li / Manish Butte

Biomaterials, Drug Delivery, Immunoengineering, Tissue Engineering, Polymers, Nanomedicine

Ileana Pirozzi

ipirozzi@stanford.edu

With my group, I am developing implantable, biomimetic devices that conform to the heart's surface to support its mechanical function and prevent mechanical failure. The primary device is a passive, elastic sleeve of auxetic metamaterials that replicates the motion and deformations of heart tissue and provides elastic energy transfer to the tissue. We are also developing soft sensing technology for smart integration and closed-loop feedback of strain and deformation.

New York City, NY, US

Head of Healthcare Ventures at Lingotto Innovation

Lingotto Innovation

VC

I left home at 15 to live on an artificial island in the Netherlands for the next two years before I came to college in the US!

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 3

Mark Cutkosky (secondary - William Hiesinger)

medical devices, cardiovascular engineering, smart devices, heart failure, soft robotics

Alim Ladha

aladha@broadinstitute.org

I work on building new CRISPR-based tools for applications in genome editing and diagnostics.

New York City, NY, US

Research and Investments at Royalty Pharma

Royalty Pharma

Industry

I am a proud alumni of the world's first stool bank.

MIT, Broad Institute

PhD Student—year 3

Feng Zhang

genome editing, molecular biology, microbiome, aging, cell engineering

Michael Retchin

mrr4002@med.cornell.edu

Predicting determinants of immune activation using machine learning, biophysics modeling, and functional in vitro screening.

New York City, NY, US

Founder at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Building scientific intelligence.

Founder

I once solved a Rubik's Cube in 30 seconds. Far off from world-record pace, but still pretty good!

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

John Chodera

Single cell, computational chemistry, machine learning, cell therapy, stem cells, genetic control

Annalise Schweickart

aas4002@med.cornell.edu

1. I am performing statistical analysis of high throughput time-course metabolomics datasets to identify a metabolic signature of the ketogenic diet

2. I am using state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms to disentangle cancer signature in spatial metabolomics datasets

3. I am creating a new multivariable model framework to assess high dimensional multi-omic modules in Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer's disease

New York City, NY, US

Postdoctoral Associate at Nathan Price Lab at The Buck Institute for Research on Aging

The Buck Institute

Developing interpretive metabolomic data models in the space of complex metabolic disease

Postdoc

I applied to be an astronaut in NASAs next class (here's hoping!)

Weill Cornell Medicine

PhD Student—year 3

Jan Krumsiek

Data Science, Metabolomics, Biostatistical Modeling

Teryn Mitchell

terynmitchell16@gmail.com

I am working on developing CAR-T therapeutics for cancer/neurodegenerative disorders

New York City, NY, US

PhD Candidate at Siddhartha Mukherjee and Ai Yamamoto Lab at Columbia University

Columbia University

Developing a novel immunoprecipitation workstream to identify medulloblastoma and AML neoepitope immunotherapy targets for TCR therapy

PhD

Columbia University

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Ai Yamamoto

Neuroscience, cancer, immunology, immunoengineering

Alon Galor

alongalor@gmail.com

Focal Cortical Dysplasia type II (FCD II) is the most common cause of pediatric medically

refractory epilepsy. Given the failure of the standard of care to cure the majority patients, as well as significant complications associated with present treatments, new therapies are greatly needed for the disease. We are validating novel patent-pending personalized biomarkers of diseased cells that could lead to potentially curative therapeutics and diagnostics in FCD II and a range of disorders with similar molecular etiologies.

Oxford, United Kingdom

PhD Candidate at Oxford University

Oxford University

Statistical Machine Learning & Genomics

PhD

Developing a personalized rare disease therapeutic for a family member

University of Oxford

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Peter Park (HMS) + TBD (Oxford)

personalized immunotherapy, rare diseases, computational biology

Zinaida Good

zinaidagood@gmail.com

(1) identification of CAR T-cell populations that are associated with durable complete response in patients receiving FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies

(2) fate mapping of CAR T-cell clones in patients receiving CD19-targeted CAR T cells

(3) identifying modulation points to improve CAR T-cell function within the tumor microenvironment in lymphoma and solid tumors.

Palo Alto, CA, US

Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University

Stanford University

Understanding and enhancing engineered T cell immunotherapies for cancer, immune-mediated diseases, and transplantation.

PI

Rollerbladed in Winter Olympics opening ceremony pretending to be an 'ice skater'

Stanford University

Postdoc

Crystal L. Mackall; Sylvia K. Plevritis

cancer immunotherapy, CAR T cells, lymphoma, leukemia, head and neck cancer, CODEX, single-cell sequencing, data integration

Ivan Kuznetsov

ivan.kuznetsov1@gmail.com

I engineer novel optogenetic membrane recruitment systems with a specific focus on light-activated control on cell motility via Rho GTPases. I then apply these tools to yield novel insights into the cellular signaling pathways that permit cell extension/contraction.

Philadelphia, PA, US

Internal Medicine Resident at Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System

University of Pennsylvania

Industry? Postdoc?

Although born in the US, I spent my childhood in Austria and Russia. English is actually my third language!

University of Pennsylvania

MD/PhD - year 5

Brian Chow

Protein engineering; Optogenetics

Kristina Li

kli1@seas.upenn.edu

My research project aims to use a multi-omic approach to understand the underlying pathophysiology of metabolic diseases such as NASH/NAFLD and fibrosis. I am currently working on a novel drug target that separates de novo lipogenesis from canonical mTORC signaling.

Philadelphia, PA, US

PhD Candidate at Zoltan Arany Lab at University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

Characterizing a novel druggable target which serves as a driver in a subgroup of hepatocellular carcinomas.

PhD

After college I worked as a consultant building the Healthcare.gov website and got to be on a call with President Obama my first week on the job.

University of Pennsylvania

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Zoltan Arany

metabolomics, transcriptomics, genomics, metabolism, NASH/NAFLD, fibrosis, mTOR

Joel Babdor

joel.babdor@gmail.com

One of the main projects Joel has developed in the Spitzer lab is the ImmunoMicrobiome Study, an IRB-approved human research protocol, which successfully enrolled 111 healthy individuals, to perform a comprehensive analysis of the peripheral immune system, the gut/oral/skin microbiome, and the metabolome. His study is designed to assess variations of the immune system and the microbiome across time and explore the interactions between these biological compartments. As "it takes a village", Joel is collaboratively developing novel, integrative computational strategies to analyze the ImmunoMicrobiome multi-OMIC dataset.

Other projects explore clinical settings where the immune system is harnessed to treat the patient. That includes specimens of retrospective cohorts and ongoing clinical trials in autoimmunity, cancer and organ transplantation. Joel’s goal is to understand what are the factors that are responsible for Immunotherapy responsiveness. Thus, each of this translational projects include an investigation of the human microbiome, diet and other lifestyle factors

Philadelphia, PA, US

Assistant Professor in Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

Understanding the impact of the microbial exposome on immunomodulation therapy responsiveness

PI

I ride an electric skateboard across San Francisco hills to go to the lab

UCSF

Postdoc

Matthew Spitzer

Clinical, Translational, Immunology, Microbiome, Computational, multi-OMIC, Cancer, Autoimmunity, Immunotherapy, Immune Modulation, Data Science

Brandon Wilson

brandonwilsonphd@gmail.com

Massively multiplexed protein detection. Real-time monitoring of molecular concentrations. Technology to improve the sustainability of the wine industry.

Redwood City, CA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Range Biotechnologies

Range Biotechnologies

Building next generation tools for molecular profiling and health screening

Founder

One time I went skiing without goggles and I got a sun burn on my retina that caused me to go completely blind for two weeks!

Stanford University

Postdoc

Tom Soh

Molecular Switches, Diagnostic Medicine, DNA Sequencing, Human Physiology

Michelle Lee

michellelee@cs.stanford.edu

Michelle is researching how to improve automated liquid handling, which accounts for 80-90% of wet lab operations, yet has been described by biotech automation engineers (at GRAIL, Insitro, Counsyl and more) as time-consuming, unreliable, and often the biggest bottleneck in most wet lab R&D protocols. By developing state-of-the-art robotic perception algorithms and powerful yet simple no-code API, Michelle is building technology that allows scientists to create and validate new lab protocols in minutes, rather than days or weeks. Her vision is to create integrated hardware and software systems that can automate wet lab processes, which will open up new potential for products and service offerings.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Founder and CEO at Medra

Medra

Working on a complete, autonomous robotic system that executes protocols the way scientists do.

Founder

When I was working at SpaceX, I once was stopped by Elon's personal bodyguard because my keys were jingling too loudly.

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Jeannette Bohg

machine learning, computer vision, robotics, cell therapy, high throughput assay

Jarod Rutledge

jarod@stanford.edu

-Predicting aging outcomes and risk factors from blood plasma proteomics data.

-Discovering genetic risk factors for brain aging and neurodegeneration with single cell functional genomics.

-Deciphering mechanisms of rejuvenating interventions with particular focus on exercise, parabiosis/young blood, and transient epigenetic reprogramming.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Director of Biotechnology and Life Sciences at Starbloom Capital

Starbloom Capital

Translating biological insights into human empowerment

VC

I am an amateur rock collector

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 3

Tony Wyss-Coray, Stephen Montgomery

aging and rejuvenation, epigenetic reprogramming, proteomics, single cell omics, protein design, AI/machine learning/deep learning

Sevahn Vorperian

sevahn@stanford.edu

I study the origins of circulating RNA in the bloodstream

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Postdoctoral Fellow at Genentech

Genentech

Industry

you can find some of my photography at my blog www.sevahn.com!

Stanford

PhD Student—year 3

Stephen Quake

systems biology, single cell genomics, next gen sequencing, aging/longevity, defining cellular identity, liquid biopsy

Mark Budde

markbudde@gmail.com

We design abstract biological circuits and implement them with synthetic biology components. I recently published on two different systems: (1) “intMEMOIR”, which records lineage history that can be read optically; and (2) “Paradaux”, an evolutionarily robust, paradoxical circuit architecture that implements quorum-sensing-based population control in mammalian cells. I am currently working to apply synthetic circuits for human therapy.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Plasmidsaurus

plasmidsaurus

Offering whole plasmid sequencing and whole bacterial genome sequencing with fast turnaround.

Founder

Joe Biden personally saved my mortgage

Caltech

Postdoc

Michael Elowitz

Synthetic biological circuits

Daniel Goodman

dbgoodman@gmail.com

As a synthetic biologist and technologist, I'm interested in applying high-throughput DNA synthesis and sequencing to dramatically scale the way we manipulate and measure biological systems. I'm passionate about applying these technologies to problems in cellular engineering for immunology - specifically genome editing and synthetic receptor design for immunotherapies.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Assistant Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

Developing high-throughput approaches to understand and engineer the genetic machinery of immune cells, with the ultimate goal of improving cellular immunotherapies for cancer and other diseases.

PI

I've lived in 8 cities, 4 countries, and 3 continents.

UCSF

Postdoc

Alex Marson, Kole Roybal, Jeff Bluestone

Synthetic Biology, Immunology, Genome Engineering

Jai Padmakumar

jaip217@gmail.com

My work focuses on engineering genetic parts to make bacteria as easy to program as writing a piece of code. I design genetic "hardware" that can be composed together to execute arbitrary programs in a cell using software, similar to how transistors and logic gates enable a software developer to write an application without understanding how they work.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder at 1849 bio

1849 bio

Making microbes for miners

Founder

I've been skydiving over a 100 times

MIT

PhD Student—year 4+

Christopher Voigt

Synthetic biology, bacterial strain engineering, agriculture, living therapeutics

Max Schubert

mgschubert@gmail.com

Photosynthetic bacteria have recently been discovered that grow far faster than was previously thought possible. I am working to develop next-generation synthetic biology tools for these organisms, to perform next-generation multiplexed experiments. My hope is to unleash these organisms for applications in food, carbon sequestration, and photosynthesis research.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Scientist at Pioneer Labs

Pioneer Labs

Developing new platform technology for directed evolution in-house. Integrating both new "Wet Lab" and Computational approaches to make it all happen.

Industry?

I worked in a fungal ecology lab - can identify hundreds of kinds of mushrooms!

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church (co-advised Himadri Pakrasi)

Microbiology, Photosynthesis, CRISPR, Multiplexing, NGS, Genetic Engineering, Synthetic Biology

Eeshit Dhaval Vaishnav

edv.emails@gmail.com

The evolution, evolvability and engineering of gene regulatory DNA.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Founder and CEO at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Founder

I have an Erdős-Bacon number of 7.

MIT

PhD Student—year 4+

Prof. Aviv Regev

Machine Learning, Genomics, etc.

James Banal

jameslbanal@gmail.com

My current work seeks to leverage molecular self-assembly to build from the bottom-up molecular devices for computing, energy conversion, and a sustainable future.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder at Cache DNA

Cache DNA

Storing the biomolecules of today in order to unlock the possibilities of tomorrow

Founder

I can't remember names, but can remember chemical structures and numbers that I've seen 10 years ago.

MIT

Postdoc

Mark Bathe

DNA nanotechnology, quantum computing, molecular computing, energy conversion

Nina Warner

ncw39@cam.ac.uk

I combine computational and experimental methods to increase the efficiency of the biologic formulation pipeline. Specifically, I focus on the development of freeze-dried matrices to increase the thermal stability of shelf-labile biologics.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Founder at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Founder

When I visit my parents I ALWAYS put a hot dog in the ice dispenser and set it to 'crushed ice' to make sure they fully embrace my presence. As my mom says, "she thinks it's funny."

University of Cambidge

PhD Student—year 4+

Oren Scherman

formulation, protein stability, excipient development, machine learning

Steph Nevins

stephanie.nevins@gmail.com

Using single cell multiomic technologies to improve our understanding of the earliest molecular and cellular changes in the transformation of normal tissue to malignant disease. This project aims to dramatically accelerate the pace of progress in the fight against cancer and lead to the development of novel diagnostic tests, personalized therapies and early intervention strategies.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

CEO at Pattern Biosciences

Pattern Biosciences

Designing programmable genetic medicines at the cutting edge of genomics, synthetic biology, AI, and oncology.

Founder?

Through DNA testing, I just found out a crazy story about my ancestry! My family had no idea. (My parents are my parents, haha!)

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Michael Snyder

single cell multiomics, precancer, early detection & diagnostics, maternal health

Yanniv Dorone

yannivdor@gmail.com

Investigating the biological functions of potein phase separation in plants. Projects span germination, stress responses and metabolism.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Senior Vice President at Fall Line Capital

Fall Line Capital

VC

I listen to Christmas music all year long (despite being Jewish!)

Carnegie Institution for Science (Stanford)

Postdoc

Sue Rhee

Plant biology, cell and molecular biology, liquid-liquid phase separation.

Ashton Trotman-Grant

ash.trotmangrant@gmail.com

I study human T cell development and develop technologies to recapitulate this process for therapeutic applications. I also use genome editing strategies to study the mechanism by which progenitor T cells repair the thymus in humanized mouse models.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Founder at Karyo Studios

Karyo Studios

Developed a prototype for Project Grow, a multi-agent social simulation platform exploring synthetic biology challenges in a game environment

Founder

I'm a twin! My brother is currently pursuing his PhD in Immunology at Stanford University. Say hi to him for me if you're in the Bay Area.

University of Toronto

PhD Student—year 4+

Juan-Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker

immunology, stem cells, synthetic biology

Binbin Chen

binbin@vcreate.io

My PhD work focused on identifying immunogenic antigens for cancer and infectious diseases with a combination of high throughput screening and deep learning. Our algorithm MARIA (maria.stanford.edu) is the world leading algorithm for identifying antigens presentable by MHC class II. Our company will extend similar approaches to T-cell receptors.

Stanford, CA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Vcreate.io

Combining high throughput screening and machine learning to design the next generation of immunotherapies.

Founder

I never saw snow until I moved to Georgia (USA).

Stanford University (until June 2021)

MD/PhD Student

Russ Altman, MD/PhD

Immunology, machine learning, oncology

Mira Moufarrej

mira.moufarrej@gmail.com

Pregnancy-related complications like preeclampsia and preterm delivery pose significant risks to both fetal and maternal health and are often difficult to detect in time for effective medical intervention. To monitor prenatal health and identify high-risk pregnancies, I developed three novel liquid biopsy tests that more accurately predict due date and risk of preeclampsia or preterm delivery, making assessments possible well in advance of the mother becoming symptomatic. Following preclinical validation, these affordable, simple, and reliable maternal blood tests may change the standard of care for preeclampsia and preterm delivery—risks that no other test can currently predict early enough to allow for meaningful clinical intervention.

Stanford, CA, US

Science Fellow at Kristy Red-Horse Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Working to holistically characterize RNA biology in the cell and circulation with the aim of discovering and ultimately engineering new therapies.

Academia: Science Fellow

Growing up, I lived in cities across 4 countries and went to high school in Dubai, but during lockdown, I spent 3 months on a cattle ranch in Alabama (pictured below).

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Stephen Quake

systems biology, transcriptomics, prenatal health, drug discovery and development, automation, computer science, liquid biopsy

Conor McClune

mcclune@stanford.edu

Approximately half of FDA approved chemotherapeutics, including first line drugs like paclitaxel (Taxol) and vinblastine (Velban), derive from the arsenal of defensive chemicals that plants synthesize. Using single-cell encapsulation technology, I am developing systematic methods for identifying the biosynthetic pathways plants use to produce defensive molecules and for testing their chemical products for therapeutic activity.

Stanford, CA, US

Damon Runyon/HHMI Fellow at Elizabeth Sattely & Polly Fordyce Labs at Stanford University

Stanford University

Developing tools for manipulating and measuring the biosynthetic activity of individual plant cells within complex tissues.

Academia: Fellow

Stanford

Postdoc

Elizabeth Sattely, Polly Fordyce

natural product biosynthesis, bioactive phytochemicals, plant synthetic biology, single cell analysis, droplet microfluidics

Jacob Steenwyk

jlsteenwyk@gmail.com

1) Some fungi benefit human welfare (e.g., they produce cheese or wine), whereas others are dangerous human pathogens - why are some beneficial to human welfare, but others are killers?

2) There is more data than we can analyze. How do we make sense of the data deluge? I think evolutionary genomics - unraveling organismal histories - can help shed biological insights into data, inform our past, and even predict our future.

Berkeley, CA, US

Postdoctorial Associate at Nicole King Lab at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Focusing on the evolution and function of genomes, with a particular emphasis on animals and fungi.

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/jlsteenwyk?

UC, Berkeley

Postdoc

Nicole King

Comparative Genomics, Genome Evolution, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Software Development, Phylogenomics

Human genomics; human medicine; complex disease; science business; microbial pathogens; fermentation science

Helena De Puig

Hpuig@wyss.harvard.edu

we make instant immunoassays for wash-free microscopy. To do that, we genetically encode special nonstandard aminoacids into the sensor proteins that light up when they detect their target protein.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-Founder and CEO at Externa Biosciences

Externna Biosciences

Unlocking the next generation of smart therapies with synthetic amino acids

Founder

I competed in horseback riding sports. I was 2nd of Spain nonpro in reining.

Wyss institute, Harvard and MIT

Postdoc

James J Collins

Diagnostics infectious diseases

Neuro

Raphael Ferreira

1/16/2023

Developing CRISPR technologies for exploring metabolic vulnerabilities in brain metastasis and large-scale genome editing

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Geroge Church Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Genome engineering, Gut microbiome, Aging

Postdoc

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church

CRISPR, Prime Editing; Metastasis; Brain Cancer

Plant engineering

Alex Plesa

amplesa@g.harvard.edu

Testing novel genetic perturbations for age reversal in vivo through regeneration assays. Performing high throughput screens for discovering cell type specific cellular rejuvenation interventions.

Cambridge, MA, US

Scientist I - Healthy Aging at Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Harvard University

Developing age reversal therapies

Postdoc/Scientist

https://twitter.com/amplesa?

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church

Age reversal, Genetic screens, Machine learning, Gene therapy

Stem cell biology, reprogramming, systems biology

Chris Frangieh

frangieh@mit.edu

I work on characterizing and reprogramming transposons for targeted integration in human cells.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Aviv Regev and Feng Zhang Labs at MIT

MIT

Focusing on computational biology and biological engineering.

PhD

https://twitter.com/frangiehchris?

I played the bassoon in high school

Massachusetts Institute of Technology & Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

PhD Student—year 4+

Feng Zhang

Genome engineering

Machine learning

Rebecca Carlson

rcarlson@broadinstitute.org

I'm using optical pooled screening, a technology I helped develop that enables image-based CRISPR screening using in situ sequencing, to study host-pathogen interactions and innate immune responses to infection. I've studied a couple of RNA viruses, including Sendai virus and Ebola, and am also interested in responses to foreign DNA.

Cambridge, MA, US

Associate at Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering

VC

I love women's artistic gymnastics and powerlifting!

Harvard-MIT Department of Health Sciences and Technology and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

PhD Student—year 4+

Paul Blainey and Nir Hacohen

Functional genomics, image-based screening, innate immunity, host-pathogen interactions

Synbio, sustainability, protein engineering and design

Anna Romanov

romanov@mit.edu

I am studying nanoscale design rules for next generation vaccines. Using engineered DNA origami nanoparticles to scaffold bioactive molecules like immunogens and therapeutic nucleic acids, I hope to understand how parameters such as antigen spacing or co-stimulation can be used in to enhance immune responses induced by vaccination.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Mark Bathe & Darrel Irvine Lab at MIT

MIT

Exploring intersections of DNA nanotechnology and immunology

PhD

https://twitter.com/annaromanov13?

In college, I rescued a 12 year old poodle from a puppy mill. He was blind, deaf and had no teeth, but he brought me loads of joy during COVID. Turns out you can teach on old dog new tricks

MIT

PhD Student—year 3

Mark Bathe, Darrell Irvine

DNA nanotechnology, immunoengineering

spatial omics, glycoengineering

Kathrin Kajderowicz

kathrin@wi.mit.edu

Main focus: Improving and developing new genome-wide screening technologies and analysis pipelines

Main project: Identifying the genetic drivers of cold tolerance with the hopes of improving cryopreservation technologies or therapeutic human hypothermia treatments.

Secondary project: Finding druggable targets for dry age-related macular degeneration.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Sinisa Hrvatin Lab at MIT

MIT

Studying how hibernation-like states could pave the way for new hypothermic therapies

PhD

I have abstract internal imagery -- when I close my eyes and think about objects or people, I make abstract representations that are never the same (always changing). I am also a huge birder!

Whitehead-MIT

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Hrvatin/Weissman

Cell stasis, cryonics, CRISPR screening, ORFeome screening

Longevity, aging, and cell-type specific delivery

Mohamed El-Brolosy

mohamed_elbrolosy@fas.harvard.edu

I study genetic robustness. In particular, I focus on the phenomenon of transcriptional adaptation where mutations can elicit compensatory upregulation of functionally-related gene (e.g., paralogs) in a manner dependent on mutant mRNA decay.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Fellow at Jonathan Weissman's Lab at Whitehead Institute & Junior Fellow at Harvard Society of Fellows

MIT

Looking at how cells ensure that proteins fold into their correct shape

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/mohamedbrolosy?

I have a black belt in Karate, and have won several national and international tournaments in Egypt, Germany and the US.

Harvard Society of Fellows, Whitehead institute for Biomedical Research

Junior Fellow

Jonathan Weissman

Genetic Robustness, Gene activation

Evolutionary biology

Erik Aznauryan

erik.aznauryan@wyss.harvard.edu

Developing novel genome engineering tools for safe and efficient insertion of large DNA cargo into desired genomic locations for gene and cell therapy applications. Potential clinical indications include hereditary disorders, such as cystic fibrosis, epidermolysis bullosa and alpha1 anti-trypsin deficiency, as well as cancer and neurodegenerative and aging-associated diseases.

Cambridge, MA, US

Technology Development Fellow at Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Harvard University

Creating a new genome editing platform for safe, efficient and durable gene and cell therapies.

Postdoc/Fellow

https://twitter.com/erik_aznauryan?

Broke both of my arms playing soccer in high school, which saved me from a piano exam that year.

Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Postdoc

Dr George Church

Genome engineering

Aging, neuroscience, stem cell biology

Hope Merens

hmerens@g.harvard.edu

My current research project aims to study interactions between transcription and splicing machinery in human cells. Specifically, I am interested in studying how Polymerase II's interactions with splicing factors affect their binding on nascent RNA, and conversely, how the same splicing factors are able to affect Pol II transcription dynamics.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Stirling Churman Lab, Harvard Medical School

Harvard Medical School

Studying the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes at high resolution and researching splicing regulation and mechanisms.

PhD

https://twitter.com/hopemerens?

I can tell you where you can (objectively) find the best ice cream in the US :)

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Dr. Stirling Churchman

transcription machinery, splicing machinery, cotranscriptional RNA processing, genomics, long-read direct RNA sequencing

developmental biology/embryogenesis, neurobiology/mRNA transport in neurons, neurobiology of pain

Grant Knappe

knappe@mit.edu

I am currently working on harnessing DNA as a building material to fabricate nanoparticles that deliver nucleic acid therapeutics for biomedical applications. My focus is on the manufacturability of these materials, developing capabilities to attach payloads and targeting ligands at scale. Additionally, I am conducting basic foundational studies to understand how these new materials interact with biological systems such as the immune system.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Mark Bathe Lab at MIT

MIT

Developing a new drug delivery platform based on nucleic acid nanotechnology

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/knappe_?

I self-published a street photography book.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD Student—year 4+

Mark Bathe

1/16/2023

Origins of life; the science of creativity; the science of productivity; cell-free synthesis; DNA writing

Michaël Moret

michael_moret@hms.harvard.edu

I work on a diverse set of problems involving protein engineering with machine learning and non-standard amino acids (new amino acids that are not proteinogenic and that can confer new functions and properties to proteins).

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Geroge Church Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Computational drug design

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/moret1788?

I grew up in a village where there were almost as many cows as people.

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church

Protein engineering, machine learning, de novo drug design

Artificial intelligence, gene therapy, gene delivery, aging reversal, incentive design

Susanna Elledge

susanna.elledge@gmail.com

My current project aims to develop early detection diagnostics for high-grade serous ovarian cancer using synthetic biosensors.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Sangeeta Bhatia Lab at MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer

MIT

Developing new diagnostic technologies for the early detection of ovarian cancer

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/susanna_elledge?

I have been playing a special kind of drums (called Taiko) for the last 8 years!

MIT

Postdoc

Sangeeta Bhatia

Protein engineering, bio-conjugation, viral diagnostics, drug delivery, enzyme sensing

Immunotherapy, machine learning, vaccines, protein design

ZOHREH IZADIFAR

zohreh.izadifar@wyss.harvard.edu

My current project in on development and application of Organ Chip in vitro model of human Cervix Chip for understanding and preclinical analysis of mucosal host-microbiome contributions to vaginal health. I am also developing multiple sensor integrated organ chip models for non-invasive real-time monitoring of physiological functions in Organ Chip in vitro models.

Cambridge, MA, US

Research Faculty at Boston Childrens Hospital at Harvard University

Harvard University

Employs a multidisciplinary approach based on advanced engineering, cell biology, biofabrication, biomaterials, and life science technologies to reconstitute the structural, physiological, and functional aspects of human urogenital and reproductive tissues and organs in vitro.

PI

I love (risky!) adventures

Wyss Institute, Harvard University

Postdoc

Dr. Donald Ingber

Tissue Engineering, Women's health, Regenerative medicine, 3D Bioprinting, Organ-on-Chip

Diagnostics for women's health, Biomarker discovery, Entrepreneurship, technology translation

Avadhoot Sandeep Jadhav

avadhootjadhav910@gmail.com

I am currently working on developing a nanobody-based immunotherapy for COVID19.

Specifically, I am designing a strategy to engineer nanobody fusions that can selectively target and destroy virus-infected cells. The goal is to provide a platform technology for rapidly designing therapeutics with broad target specificity for emerging virus variants.

Cambridge, MA, US

Research Fellow at Hidde Ploegh Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Pursuing interests in Immune Engineering and Synthetic Immunology

Academia: Fellow

I play a lot of sports - including Badminton, Cricket, Handball, Basketball, Soccer, Frisbee, Tennis, Chess, Volleyball etc.

Boston's Children's Hospital

Prospective PhD (Currently Masters)

Dr Hidde Pleogh

Synthetic Immunology, Protein Engineering, Computational Drug Design

Cell engineering, Gene therapies, Regenerative Medicine

Bingxu Liu

liubingxu1995@gmail.com

We engineer proteins to specifically and sensitively recognize tumor-specific antigens.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at David Baker Lab at University of Washington

University of Washington

Expanding the capabilities of living systems

Postdoc

I knocked down a national champion twice in a taekwondo competition as a rookie.

MIT Biology/Broad Institute/Koch Institute

PhD Student—year 4+

Nir Hacohen/Darrell Irvine

Immuno-engineering

Protein Design

Gabriele Corso

gcorso@mit.edu

We obtained significant improvements in molecular docking over previous methods by modeling the binding poses of protein and small molecules with carefully-designed diffusion generative models. Now we are extending our framework to model more complex interactions and predict their free energy.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Tommi Jaakkola and Regina Barzilay Labs at MIT

MIT

Working on geometric deep learning and generative models and their application to challenging problems in biochemistry and physics.

PhD

MIT

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Tommi Jaakkola and Regina Barzilay

machine learning, structural biology, drug discovery, generative models, molecular dynamics

Molecular dynamics, immunology, metabolics

Sophia Liu

sophliu95@gmail.com

I am currently building methods to characterize cell-cell interactions involving adaptive immune cells in contexts ranging from cancer to immunosenescence. Areas of focus include spatial transcriptomics methods reporting T and B cell receptors, as well as strategies for tracing dynamic interactions in vivo.

Cambridge, MA, US

Early Independence Fellow and Core Faculty at Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard

Broad Institute

We study and develop tools for interrogating immune cell interactions.

PI

https://twitter.com/soph_liu?

I got my driver's license on the first day of graduate school and then drove a U-Haul the next day to move in.

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Fei Chen

immunology, cell interactions, spatial transcriptomics, technology development

Protein design, cell therapies, and reproductive biology

Lucy S Chong

lucy.s.chong@gmail.com

“Diseases often arise when proteins interact with each other in abnormal ways.” A core challenge for current therapeutics is selectively targeting cells based on the activities of proteins within cellular pathways that define their pathogenic states. Our technology leverages aberrant protein pathways to turn on our therapies specifically in diseased cells. We have developed synthetic protein circuits that can directly sense key cellular pathways, process that information to classify cellular states, and respond by conditionally triggering cell death or other beneficial responses. Designable “smart” therapeutics with these targeting abilities promise solutions to several currently intractable diseases.

Cambridge, MA, US

Senior Associate at F-Prime Capital

F-Prime Capital

VC

Did a solo road trip in Norway without knowing how to drive.

California Institute of Technology

Research Scientist

Michael Elowitz

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology applications in agtech and climate tech

Linlin Chen

linlin.m.chen@gmail.com

I am developing a method for high throughput screening of protein affinity reagents. This technique will enable high throughput proteomic studies of novel, less accessible proteins and their associated biological systems.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Mitchell Guttman Lab at Caltech

Caltech

Working to make protein targeting more accessible by developing a pipeline for discovery and screening of new affinity reagents in a rapid, inexpensive manner.

PhD

https://twitter.com/linlinmc?

I can lick my elbow

Caltech

PhD Student—year 4+

Mitch Guttman

High throughput protein screening, protein engineering, methods development

RNA aptamers, machine learning, drug discovery, neuroscience

Gabriel Filsinger

gabrieltfilsinger@gmail.com

We are trying to develop new viral vectors for gene therapy, optimizing for increased payload size, simplified cell-type specific targeting, and precise genome modification. We are looking beyond AAV, towards viruses with a larger genome that are not yet routinely used, but have the potential to be breakthrough platforms for future therapies.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Scholar at Michael Fischbach Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Studying the mechanisms of microbiome-host interactions

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/gabrielfilsing1?

I keep my shoes until the bottom wears out

Stanford University

Postdoc

Michael Fischbach

Genome editing, Cell and Gene Therapy, DNA repair and recombination, Viral vector engineering.

Machine learning theory (developing new models), protein discovery and protein engineering, immunology, infectious disease, regenerative medicine.

Erin Huiting

erin.huiting@ucsf.edu

I study mechanisms of bacterial immunity and how phages (bacterial viruses) evolve anti-immune strategies. I apply a variety of genome engineering tools, like CRISPR-Cas, on bacteria and phages to establish native model systems.

Davis, CA, US

Postdoctoral Scholar at Pam Ronald Lab at UC Davis

UC Davis

Exploring the natural genetic diversity of plants to identify new immune genes, which will serve as the basis to bioengineer resilient crops to biotic and abiotic stresses

Postdoc/Fellow

Hiked 20 miles to climb up Half Dome (without a harness; twice because I was too nervous the first time).

University of California, San Francisco

PhD Student—year 4+

Joe Bondy-Denomy

Microbiology, immunology, genome engineering

Microbial communities and microbiome; environmental science and climate change; data science and artificial intelligence

Emma Chory

chory.e@gmail.com

The Chory lab combines directed evolution, epigenome engineering, and robotics to engineer new proteins, biological tools, and cellular therapies with both translational and basic science potential. Specifically, my group will be working on the engineering of protease-resistant biologic therapies, continuous evolution using human cell lines, and exploring the fitness landscapes of binding interactions ranging from antibodies to histone readers.

Durham, NC, US

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University

Duke University

We combine the disciplines of directed evolution, high-throughput robotics, and chromatin biology to engineer novel precision biologics and build mechanistic models that will better inform our ability to understand and tackle human disease.

PI

https://twitter.com/chorye?

During the pandemic, I took up graffiti-knitting (aka knit-bombing, guerilla-knitting), and graffiti-crochetted the "Make Way For Duckings" statues in the Boston Public Garden for Pride, BLM, Ukraine awareness, and the 2020 election (and sometimes just make them sweaters bc they look cold).

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Incoming Assistant Professor

Kevin Esvelt & Jim Collins

Directed evolution, chromatin biology, high-throughput biology, automation, drug discovery

Antibody engineering, de novo protein design, immunology

Nicholas Sarai

nsarai@caltech.edu

The multitude of chemical compounds that we produce enable innumerable applications, yet also pose risks to ecosystem and human health. Under certain conditions, microorganisms are able to harness enzyme promiscuity and evolve enzymes that can degrade these compounds. I am using modern enzyme engineering tools, including directed evolution, to engineer enzymes capable of degrading anthropogenic pollutants that are not known to be biodegraded in nature.

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, CA, US

Associate at McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company

Consultant

https://twitter.com/nicholassarai?

Caltech

PhD Student—year 4+

Frances Arnold

Enzyme engineering, enzymology, bioremediation, human impacts

New opportunities for synthetic biology to move the needle on sustainability and climate. Some examples are bio mining, and CO2 and CH4 removal and valorization.

Máté Borsos

borsosmate@gmail.com

My long term goal is to develop healthier, personalized contraceptives and provide new solutions to extend women’s fertility. Currently, I engineer molecular tools and perform in vivo high throughput screens to identify and understand the mechanisms regulating female reproduction.

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, CA, US

Postdoctoral Scholar at Viviana Gradinaru Lab at Caltech

Caltech

Engineering novel rAAV variants to target the germline

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/mate_borsos?

Horseback archery is my vice.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech)

Postdoc

Viviana Gradinaru

women's reproductive health, ovarian aging, epigenetics, gene therapy

Michael Montgomery

mmontgom@stanford.edu

The human genome encodes instructions that guide development and function of the hundreds of cell types comprising the human body. To understand how the genome is repurposed by each cell type to achieve a unique gene expression program, I am developing high throughout tools to re-engineer DNA sequence in native genomic context.

Mountain View, CA, USA

PhD Candidate at Engreitz Lab at Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine

Developing and applying high-throughput CRISPR technologies to decode and engineer human gene regulation

PhD

https://twitter.com/michaeltmont?

I was sponsored for skateboarding when I was a teenager

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 3

Jesse Engreitz

High throughput functional genomics, CRISPR, gene regulation, heart disease

Synthetic biology, machine learning tools for biological systems

Ashley Abel

ashley.abel@yale.ued

I am leveraging human stem cells for 3D embryonic modeling as a method to investigate critical processes driving early development around stages of significant early pregnancy loss.

New Haven, CT, US

PhD Candidate at Sozen Lab at Yale University

Yale University

Addressing gaps in our understanding of female reproductive health. Specifically, I built and employed novel 3D human stem cell-based model systems to investigate embryo development during known periods of pregnancy loss.

PhD

https://twitter.com/ashleynabel?

I have jumped from the highest bungee jump point in the world! Less crazy of a fact but a fun one, I practice vinyasa yoga 7 days a week

Yale University

PhD Student—year 3

Dr. Berna Sozen

embryology, pregnancy loss, miscarriage, human development, stem cell modeling, synthetic embryology, synthetic development, female reproductive health

George Lampe

george.d.lampe@gmail.com

Engineering CRISPR Associated Transposons (CASTs) to be a tool for large-scale genome engineering in human cells

New York City, NY, US

Postdoctoral Research Scientist at HHMI at Columbia University

Columbia University

Postdoc

I'm still genuinely sad that someone already made an instagram account of dogs in bags.

Columbia University

PhD Student—year 3

Samuel Sternberg

genome engineering

Synthetic Biology

Mackenzie Strehle

mstrehle@caltech.edu

My current work focuses on investigating how the non-coding RNA Xist interacts with a variety of protein effectors to mediate X chromosome inactivation in female mammals. I use molecular biology, cell biology, and genomics approaches to interrogate how these RNA-protein interactions lead to stable, chromosome-wide silencing. More generally, I study X chromosome inactivation to better understand how other RNA-mediated biological processes may occur.

New York City, NY, US

Senior Equity Research Associate at Evercore

Evercore

Industry

https://twitter.com/mstrehle5?

While on a hike with my boyfriend in 2020, he was bitten by a rattlesnake! Luckily he ended up being alright, and a year later we were interviewed to tell our story on a National Geographic television show

California Institute of Technology

PhD Student—year 4+

Mitch Guttman

RNA, spatial genomics, small molecule discovery

gene therapy, nanorobotics, agtech, femtech

Ali Kight

akight@stanford.edu

Ali is a PhD student in Bioengineering working at the intersection of medicine and mechanical design. Her research focuses on the development of highly durable, bio-inspired soft electronics for cardiac disease detection and remote patient monitoring.

Palo Alto, CA, US

EIR at 8VC

8VC

Founder: EIR

https://twitter.com/ali_kight?

I played two college sports!

Stanford

PhD Student—year 4+

Mark Cutkosky

Soft sensors, biomechanics, human health monitoring, mechanical design, rapid prototyping

AI/ML, security, diagnostics

Julia Bauman

jrbauman@stanford.edu

Creating new technologies to help us understand the function of regulatory elements through genetic editing screens. Currently working on single-cell methods for transcriptome + genotyping.

Palo Alto, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Steinmetz Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Building tools to better understand gene regulation

PhD

https://twitter.com/juliabauman2?

I am a (D-list) science TikTok influencer

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Lars Steinmetz

Genomics technology development, regulatory genomics

Katsuya Colon

kcolon@caltech.edu

Currently, I am working towards the development of novel amplification based spatial genomic technologies. This method will allow us to profile various small RNA species, overcome background noise in tissues, and profile nearly the entire transcriptome in situ.

Pasadena, CA, US

Postdoctoral Scholar in Seu Sim Lab at UC Irvine

UC Irvine

Developing dynamic, living materials

Postdoc

I am somewhat of a chess fan, I dabble in astrophotography, and I am an adrenaline junkie.

California Institute of Technology

PhD Student—year 4+

Long Cai

Spatial Genomics, Single Cell Genomics, Microscopy, Chemical Biology

I will like to further explore methods in single cell proteomics and profiling post-translational modifications at the single cell level. I am also interested in exploring deep learning methods and its application towards image and single cell analysis.

Ian Anderson

icanderson@ucdavis.edu

I am interested in understanding how plants evolve to use environmental information to influence their development. Understanding the mechanics of how this works, and how it evolves is key in combating climate change, and answering important questions that expand all aspects of biology/biotechnology.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Affiliate at Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University School of Medicine

I'm interested in using big data to explore subtle phenotypic differences caused by environmental changes to better understand and model environmental effects on plants.

Academia: Affiliate

UC Davis

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Grey Monroe

Epigenetics, Genotype by Environment interactions, protein/protein interactions

AI/ML, enzyme development, oligo chemistry

Gita Abhiraman

gabhiram@stanford.edu

I use tools from structural biology and protein engineering to study the molecular signals that help orchestrate the human immune response. Some of my work focuses on the structure and function of cytokines. Other parts of my work have involved engineering molecules that redirect the immune response to cancer or autoimmune disease.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

MD/PhD Candidate at Christopher Garcia Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Focusing on immunology and immunotherapy design for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease.

PhD

I live in a co-op where we cooked over 500 consecutive meals together during the height of Covid lockdowns!

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 3

Chris Garcia

protein engineering, immunology, structural biology

Cell engineering, microfluidics

Nitan Shalon

nitanshalon@gmail.com

We are developing T-cell binding models which operate in a low-data regime. We are deploying AI models in pre-clinical mouse models of malignancy as a proof-of-concept for an early cancer screening method.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Regina Barzilay Lab at MIT

MIT

Applying language models and AI in new scientific domains

PhD

I'm a twin born on leap day!

MIT

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Barzilay

AI, immunology

CRSISPR, phage technology

Caitlyn Miller

Caitlyn3@stanford.edu

My research is focused on a unique, engineered integrin-binding peptide called “PIP” that enables targeted delivery to numerous types of solid tumors. Leveraging PIP’s versatile targeting properties, we developed a systemically-administered tumor-targeting immunostimulant “PIP-CpG” that promotes immune activation and infiltration in the tumor microenvironment to enable effective anti-tumor immunity.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-Founder and CEO at TwoStep Therapeutics

TwoStep Therapeutics

Developing a pipeline built around a versatile targeting peptide “PIP” that binds selectively to multiple tumor-associated integrins, a unique feature that enables it to deliver various payloads to virtually any solid tumor

Founder

I have 10 siblings

Stanford University

Postdoc

Carolyn Bertozzi and Jennifer Cochran

cancer immunotherapy, targeted drug delivery, bioconjugation

My main focus is cancer immunotherapy, but I’m also interested in other types of cancer therapies and other immunology research areas (infectious diseases, autoimmune, allergies). Also interested in new platform technologies that enable high dimensional readouts (imaging, cytometry, sequencing, etc.).

Daniel Mokhtari

daniel.mokhtari@gmail.com

Protein enzymes are Nature's most prodigious catalysts, enabling the chemistry of life and holding vast potential to be engineered for green chemistry and targeted for next-generation pharmaceuticals. However, quantitative study of enzymes needed to realize this potential is dominated by legacy approaches that are cost and labor intensive and thus limited in scalability. I have co-developed a microfluidic enzyme assay platform capable of integrated generation and quantitative assays of enzyme variants at 100-fold improvement in scale and with 100-fold reduction in time and materials use compared with traditional techniques, with the potential to help realize next-generation engineered enzymes and new potent therapeutics.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-Founder & CEO at Velocity Bio

Velocity Bio

Developing cross-disciplinary approaches to accelerate protein biochemistry for drug discovery

Founder

Aspiring otamatone player

Stanford University

MD Student—year 4

Polly Fordyce and Dan Herschlag

microfluidics, enzyme mechanism, protein engineering

next gen battery technology, clean power generation, green synthesis

Aadit Shah

aadits@stanford.edu

Using inducible signaling receptors for in vivo fate determination of hematopoietic stem cells to erythroid-specific lineages

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

President, Founding Team at Site Therapeutics, Principal at TCG Labs-Soleil & The Column Group

Site Therapeutics

High-throughput functional genomics to build a blueprint for fine-tuned control of immune cell function (Site Therapeutics) & An Integrated Ecosystem To Exclusively Fund, Discover, and Develop Single-Asset Therapies (TCG Labs-Soleil & The Column Group)

Founder?

https://twitter.com/shahaadit?

I was born on Pi Day

Stanford

MD student

Matthew Porteus

synthetic biology, immunology, gene editing

Olivia Teter

olivia.teter@gmail.com

Developing CRISPR screens to identify disease-associated genes that modulate microglial synaptic pruning. Illuminating key pathways that facilitate this behavior to ultimately tune pruning with small molecules.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Martin Kampmann Lab at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Using functional genomics and cell engineering approaches to characterize and manipulate microglia states in health and disease.

PhD

https://twitter.com/omteter?

I am a twin!

UCSF-Berkeley

PhD Student—year 4+

Martin Kampmann

neuroimmunology, CRISPRi/a

Metabolomics, gut-brain axis, epidemiology

Alina Arzamassky

alina.arzamassky@gmail.com

I design, implement and validate the scoring function of molecular docking by adding corrections to the calculation of van der Waals forces and entropic effect. The new scoring function in molecular docking will help to predict the binding affinity between the protein and ligand.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Shoichet Lab at UCSF

UCSF

Using novel physical, computational, and chemical approaches to improve the scoring function in molecular docking.

PhD

https://twitter.com/alinaarzamassky?

Used to have a mattress in my lab so I could stay overnight

UCSF

PhD Student—year 3

Brian K. Shoichet

computational biology, biophysics, GPCR, docking, molecular dynamics, machine learning

Quantum computing, AI, cancer biology, nutrition studies

Lee Schnaider

lee.schnaider@ucsf.edu

Proteins are amazing molecular machines that carry out the essential process of life and have tremendous translational potential. While traditional protein engineering utilizes naturally occurring building blocks, de novo protein design enables us to build proteins completely from scratch, custom designed to carry out predetermined functionalities. Utilizing in-house developed algorithms together with new AI and ML techniques, I design bespoke proteins for biomedical and other translational purposes.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at William DeGrado Lab at UCSF

UCSF

Designing and characterizing de novo proteins for biomedical applications

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/leeschnaider?

I love to travel and my happy place is in definitely in the mountains

UCSF

Postdoc

William DeGrado

De novo protein design, protein engineering, protein-protein interface design, protein-small-molecule interface design, AI and ML for structural biology, materials science and engineering

Anticancer drug development, drug resistance, microbiome engineering

Nikita Khlystov

nikitak@stanford.edu

I'm leading a team that's training biology to recycle plastic and circularize the textile industry. We’ve built a high-throughput screening platform to efficiently engineer enzymes with improved plastic-degrading activity and are working to apply them in a plastics biorecycling process. As our first target, we are using our enzymes to break down synthetic fibers in blended textile waste, yielding higher-quality recycled materials for making new clothes.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Founder and CEO at Huminly

Huminly

Enabling infinite recycling of textile waste using biology.

Founder

https://twitter.com/nikitakhlystov?

I camped and biked through Death Valley one summer when it was 120 F there.

Stanford University

Postdoc

Jennifer Cochran

Training biology to recycle plastic in textiles

Machine learning meets protein engineering

Ali Ghareeb

drghareeb@outlook.com

Timestamps: a new method for working out past transcriptional regulation by profiling the ages of mRNA molecules across the transcriptome.

Transplant: a new method for differentiating cells using mRNA

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Parts for Humans

Founder

I'm half-Irish, half-Egyptian

Francis Crick Institute + University College London

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Samuel Rodriques

temporal transcriptomics, gene delivery, cell differentiation

Phage therapy for bacterial infections, Lipid Nanoparticles for gene therapy, Gene therapy in general

Jessica Stark

jcstark@stanford.edu

Tumors use sugars, or glycans, to evade the immune system. I am developing antibody-lectin (AbLec) chimeras as a modular and programmable approach to target glycans for cancer immunotherapy. AbLecs represent a new class of checkpoint blockade immunotherapies with the potential to increase the fraction of patients who benefit from treatment.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Assistant Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT

MIT

We seek to understand and engineer the roles of cell-surface sugars in the immune system.

PI

https://twitter.com/jessicacstark?

If I weren't a scientist I might be a ballerina - I danced for 16 years and still occasionally take classes with San Francisco Ballet!

Stanford University

Postdoc

Carolyn Bertozzi

synthetic biology, immunotherapy, glycoscience

climate and sustainability

Max Foisey

max.foisey@ucsf.edu

Building and broadening the applications for synthetic receptors on immune cells and developing targeted cell therapies in cancer.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Kole Roybal Lab at UCSF

UCSF

Expanding the applications for synthetic receptors in human immune cells.

PhD

I love to snowboard in my free time

UCSF

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Kole Roybal

Synthetic Biology, cell therapy, bioengineering, immunology

Genetics/genome engineering, metabolomics, spatial biology

Ali Lashkaripour

alilp@stanford.edu

Machine learning based design automation of high-throughput droplet based microfluidic devices.

Leveraging high throughput droplet based microfluidic screening to study T cell receptor and antigen presenting cell interactions to identify novel TCR-APC targets.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-Founder & CTO at Velocity Bio

Velocity Bio

Shaping microfluidics to better fit life sciences.

Founder

Love cars; terrified of bears!

Stanford Bioengineering department

Postdoc

Polly Fordyce

Microfluidics, Machine learning, immunology, immunotherapy, cancer

Cancer immunotherapy

Immunology

Kate Cavanaugh

cavanaugh.kate@gmail.com

Applying synthetic biophysical approaches to study mechanical defects from reproductive aging.

000 Not sure

https://twitter.com/cavanaughwrites?

I love exploring the San Francisco hills with my new puppy!

UCSF

Postdoc

Orion Weiner

Embryology, Reproductive Aging, Biophysics

Cell and developmental biology

Sudarshan Pinglay

sudarshan1993@gmail.com

I am a synthetic biologist with research interests spanning development, genomics and cellular engineering. During my PhD, we developed tools for the “re-writing” of mammalian genomes through the synthesis of large DNA constructs and their targeted integration into cells. I am applying these tools to: 1) understand how genes are turned on and off; and 2) endow cells with sophisticated behaviors not found in nature.

Seattle, WA, US

Independent Research Fellow at Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington

University of Washington

Developing technologies at the intersection of mammalian genome engineering, large-scale (>100kb) DNA synthesis, single-cell sequencing and de novo protein design.

PI

https://twitter.com/sudpinglay?

My first ever paid gig was being a poker tournament reporter on a boat casino

New York University School of Medicine

Postdoc

Jef Boeke, Jay Shendure

Synthetic biology, genome engineering, stem cell biology

Gene/cell therapy, de novo protein design

Grayson Rodriguez

grayr@stanford.edu

We engineer proteins to create novel receptor complexes, thereby inducing non-natural signaling within immune cells. These proteins produce desirable cell phenotypes in a targeted manner.

Stanford, CA, US

Postdoctoral Scholar at Christopher Garcia Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Characterizing and engineering immunologically relevant proteins

Postdoc

https://twitter.com/g_rodriguez16?

When I'm not in lab, I'm usually practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

K. Christopher Garcia

protein engineering, cytokine engineering, cell therapy, immuno-oncology, intracellular signaling, structural biology

Cardiac/cardiovascular immunology, gene editing

Aidan Cowan

aidancowan@berkeley.edu

In order to make biofuels a reality we need to make a lot more of them and we need to make them from something cheaper than glucose. My project couples the growth of microorganisms to the production of fuels, so they can't live without making fuel and so they evolve to make more fuel. Another aspect of my projects seeks to use one carbon feedstocks to make these fuels more cheaply and in a way which directly sequesters CO2.

Berkeley, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Jay Keasling Lab at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Pursuing innovative ways to engineer biology and overcome barriers to the sustainable production of fuels, chemicals and materials.

PhD

Love Backpacking and Mountaineering

UC Berkeley

PhD Student—year 4+

Jay Keasling

Metabolic Engineering, Biofuels, Advanced Biomaterials

Anything climate tech from geothermal energy, small modular reactors, heat pumps, passive houses, grid storage, hydrogen etc.

Maria Astolfi

maria-astolfi@berkeley.edu

I make the manufacturing of pharmaceutical cheaper, sustainable, and scalable with biology. I engineer yeast to grow molecules at scale in fermentation tanks. I transfer whole metabolic pathways from plants to microbes by precisely engineering their genomes. It saves the plants while also saving lives with pharmaceuticals made by microbes!

Berkeley, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Jay Keasling Lab at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Using synthetic biology, robotics, and AI to accelerate the discovery and biosynthesis of biodiversity-based medicinal molecules

PhD

I was born and raised in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil! My childhood was connected to biodiversity as my mother is from the Kambeba indigenous ethnicity.

UC Berkeley

PhD Student—year 3

Jay Keasling

Biomanufacturing, metabolic engineering, genome engineering, synthetic biology

Advocacy of Indigenous communities, UN ethical frameworks, and everything social impact. I’ll want to build a better world that all peoples can benefit from.

Ron Boger

ronboger@gmail.com

I'm broadly interested in machine learning and gene editing. Currently developing ML tools for discovery of new phenomena

Berkeley, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Jennifer Doudna Lab at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Interested in computation and biology

PhD

UC Berkeley

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Jennifer Doudna

gene editing, RNA binding proteins, machine learning

immunology

Evan Groover

groover@berkeley.edu

I am developing new gene editing tools and techniques for crop plants. Using them, I am working to rewire plant genomes to maximize agricultural carbon sequestration.

Berkeley, CA, US

PhD Candidate at David Savage and Brian Staskawicz Labs at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley

Developing new CRISPR/Cas gene editing tools for plants, and to improve crop carbon dioxide capture.

PhD

Prior to coming to graduate school I worked as a professional jazz saxophonist.

UC Berkeley

PhD Student—year 4+

David Savage, Brian Staskawicz

Plant genetics, gene editing, carbon sequestration

Agricultural biomanufacturing, molecular diagnostics, AI as a tool for functional genomics

Ryan Murray

Murrayr181@gmail.com

Characterizing the solid tumor microenvironment to understand synergistic pathways of T cell immunosuppression which can be alleviated by multiplex gene editing

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and CSO at KiraGen Bio

KiraGen Bio

Pioneering AI-designed multiplex gene-edited CAR-T therapies to combat immunosuppression in brain cancer and other intractable tumors

Founder

I have been skydiving...twice!

Northeastern University

PhD Student—year 4+

Stephen Hatfield

Base editing, gene editing, solid tumors, tumor micro environment, immunology, CAR-T,

I love the concept of bio design and using bioengineering for sustainability

Allison Flores

allisonflores@g.harvard.edu

Within the Church lab I work on developing synthetic biology-based strategies for the genetic encoding of non-standard amino acids (nsAAs) within proteins. By expanding beyond the 20 standard amino acids, targeted incorporation of nsAAs allows for the precise introduction of novel chemical structures, generating proteins with enhanced or new structures, functions and properties.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at George Church Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Developing new protein labeling technologies

PhD

I can do a backfip!

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

George Church

synthetic biology, protein engineering, non-standard amino acids

Protein design, Climate tech

Ramiro Martin Perrotta

ramiro.perrotta@gmail.com

De-extinction of woolly mammoth alleles into asian elephant cells to engineer cold resistant elephants. Optimization and design of safer genome editing technologies.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at George Church Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Rewriting mammalian genomes to create environmental and therapeutic solutions, always prioritizing an ethical and responsible approach.

Postdoc

I hate spicy food!

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church

Interest: Synthetic Biology, xenobiology, biosecurity. Background: de-extinction, base editing, PANCE, mammalian genome engineering and cell culture, glycobiology, onco-immunology.

Xenobiology, biosecurity, ethics

Omer Adir

omeradir@mit.edu

In my current research project I'm working on designing and implementing RNA-only genetic circuits. When expressed in the target cells, these circuits can sense and respond to their environment and do not require expression of foreign proteins that could elicit an immune response in the host.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Ron Weiss Lab at MIT

MIT

Postdoc

I'm a huge sports freak, love to play and watch every sport activity

MIT

Postdoc

Ron Weiss

Synthetic Biology, Genetic Circuits, Drug Delivery, Nanomedicine

Immunology and immunological diseases, Computational biology and machine learning

Bryce Tappan

tappan@mit.edu

I am currently studying the kinetics of ion and electron charge transfer reactions at interfaces in solid-state batteries. I am also trying to develop electrochemical methods to recycle critical materials for energy technologies (batteries, solar cells, water electrolyzers).

Cambridge, MA, US

Senior Scientist at SES AI Corp

SES AI Corp

Developing next-generation lithium metal-based batteries.

Late stage startup

I built an igloo; and in it I slept the night; true, is this haiku

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Postdoc

Prof. Yang Shao-Horn

Batteries, electrochemistry, solid electrolytes, recycling, semiconductor nanocrystals, chemical synthesis, solar cells

carbon capture and storage, water desalination, urban design for sustainability, plastics recycling, more sustainable paper making, thinking about ways that social movements could be used to address climate change; how can simple incentives be created in a capitalist society to incentivize people to make sustainable decisions? These are all things in which I am no expert but have a genuine interest in learning more about.

Yunha Hwang

yunha@tatta.bio

I am developing a Genomic Language Model that uses machine intelligence to learn the language of biology. I combine expertise in natural language processing, metagenomics, and microbial evolution to learn meaningful representations of genomic sequences to discover new biology. I am particularly interested in its potential applications in biosecurity and bioprospecting.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Tatta Bio

Tatta Bio

Building genomic intelligence

Founder

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Peter Girguis

Machine Learning in Genomics, Metagenomics, Microbial evolution

Yue Qin

yueqin97@gmail.com

My research develops computational methods for building structurally descriptive and functionally predictive models of human cells. These methods aim to create in silico cells that simulate the effect of therapeutic interventions in different disease and genetic contexts with the ultimate goal of developing personalized medicine.

Cambridge, MA, US

Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center Fellow at Broad Institute

Broad Institute

Developing computational methods for building structurally descriptive and functionally predictive models of human cells.

Academia: Fellow

I am an aspiring triathlete with motion sickness.

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard

Postdoc

Paul Blainey, Caroline Uhler

Machine Learning, Precision Medicine

Protein engineering, immunology

Caoimhe Canavan

ccanavan@mit.edu

Broadly my projects are focused on cell-free systems, RNA circuits and synthetic cells. More specifically, I use mammalian cell-free systems for high-throughput screening of tunable genetic circuits for environmental sensing and diagnostic purposes.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Research Associate at James Collins Lab at MIT

MIT

Postdoc

MIT/Wyss institute Harvard

Postdoc

Jim Collins

Cell-free systems, mammalian synthetic biology, genetic circuit design, synthetic cells, microbiology, biotechnology.

Lisa Riedmayr

lisa_riedmayr@hms.harvard.edu

I am currently developing a pipeline to create short, synthetic promoter sequences for gene therapy. Moreover, I am engineering a Cas13 protein with novel properties useful for inducing selective apoptosis in cancer and for genome editing.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctoral Research Fellow at George Church Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Working on novel cancer gene therapy using CRISPR-Cas

Postdoc

I'm in love with Bavarian beer, do not get the hype around IPAs and truly miss the Oktoberfest.

Harvard Medical School

Postdoc

George Church

CRISPR technology, cis-regulatory elements, gene therapy, synthetic biology, genetic diseases, neuroscience

Environmental research, microbiology, infectious diseases

Devon Van Cura

Devonvancura@gmail.com

Through the use of enzymes, microbes are capable of incredibly powerful and precise chemical transformations under environmentally benign conditions. My project focuses on discovering new microbial enzymes that can produce the highly reactive and synthetically enabling diazo functional group. Identifying novel diazo-forming enzymes will enable new biocatalytic approaches for developing environmentally friendly chemical manufacturing processes.

Cambridge, MA, US

Principal Scientist Group Leader - Biocatalysis at Eurofins PSS

Eurofins PSS

Industry

I was a wrestler at Penn State University as an undergraduate, and now I compete actively in submission grappling/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Emily Balskus

Biosynthesis, enzyme discovery, natural product discovery

Biocatalysis + protein engineering

Jeremy Koob

jkoob@g.havard.edu

I am developing novel RNA sensing that converts gene expression signals into programmable and conditional protein expression in eukaryotic cells. This technology allows a new way to access to cells based on RNA profiles, with exciting implications for foundational and translational biomedical research.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Fei Chen Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Developing new molecular tools for reading and recording temporal information in living systems

PhD

I'm a pianist and love chamber music! if you play strings (or other) and want to jam, let me know!

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

Fei Chen

Interest: protein engineering for environment applications. Background: Mammalian synthetic biology, RNA biochemistry, RNA-editing, CRISPR-Cas13, metalloproteins, inorganic catalysis

All fields of synthetic biology, directed evolution, protein design (computational/AI-driven), ML/AI generally, synbio climate tech, carbon capture, carbon-negative manufacturing, evolution, origin of life, origin of humans

Jim Owens

jtowens@mit.edu

My thesis research concerns the EV-power system interactions, specifically developing and applying methods that (1) quantify the technology's ultimate value proposition at the systems level, and (2) enable risk-informed wholesale market participation and financial analysis.

Cambridge, MA, US

Co-founder and Head of Engineering at Sesame Sustainability

Sesame Sustainability

Enabling industrial decarbonization

Founder

In my free time I like to sail, ski, and brew my own beet!

MIT

Year 4/About to graduate

Bob Armstrong, Emre Gencer

Electric vehicles, distributed energy resources, industrial decarbonization

Nicholas Matteucci

nmatt@mit.edu

My work revolves around incorporating solid active materials into electrochemical flow cell designs for high-energy density redox flow batteries and low temperature electrochemical transformations. We are working to build off the lab-scale proof-of-concept developments made on two classes of solid-based electrochemical flow technologies: semi-solid suspension electrodes and redox-mediated flow systems. Specifically, I work developing models, experimental techniques, and design alterations to help researchers effectively navigate the large design space of these systems.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Fikile Brushett Lab at MIT

MIT

Investigating how complex fluids can be applied to flow battery systems.

PhD

I'm an avid runner and recently ran my first marathon in 2:22:02.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD Student—year 4+

Fikile Brushett

Electrochemical Engineering, Reactor Engineering, Rheology, Energy Storage, Batteries, Industrial Electrification

I have many interests outside my immediate field, including quantum physics, physical chemistry, computation, nuclear engineering, astrophysics, statistics, and grid-scale energy dynamics. Given that this is an extremely broad set of fields, I will likely only be able to thoroughly explore some of these fields and more casually investigate others.

Chris Giuliano

giuliano@wi.mit.edu

My work develops high-throughput approaches for studying host-pathogen interactions, with a focus on parasitic diseases. Understanding how parasites manipulate hosts for their benefit can both reveal ways to treat parasitic diseases and uncover new modalities for modulating human physiology.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Sebastian Lourido Lab at MIT & Scientific Co-founder/Advisor at Meliora Therapeutics

MIT

AI / ML for modern precision medicine in oncology

PhD/ Founder

MIT

PhD Student—year 4+

Sebastian Lourido

infectious disease, immunology

metabolomics, microbiome, climate

Uroš Kuzmanović

uros@biosens8.com

I am mining microbes found in nature to identify cellular machinery for the production of physiological biosensors. I am engineering novel hormone, neurotransmitter, and drug use biosensors which can monitor continuously and non-invasively to give unprecedented insight into our body's health. A multiplexed wearable monitor will open the door to truly personalized medicine and proactive, data-driven health decisions.

Cambridge, MA, US

Founder and CEO at BioSens8

BioSens8

Engineering novel wearables to enable health ownership.

Founder

I trained with Novak Djokovic's coach!

Boston University

Graduated

James Galagan

Biosensors, wearables, synthetic biology, microbial genetics, electrical engineering, electrochemistry

I'm interested in the field of longevity. I only know at a surface level about telomeres and how it's shortening over time can lead to increased rates of mutations. I can only imagine how much the field has progressed since reading about this years ago. I'm also curious about technology addressing climate change, mostly because of it's visible influence and a pressing call to help.

Anqi Chen

anqichen@g.harvard.edu

We are developing a highly multiplexed ultrahigh throughput screening platform for the discovery of functional enzyme mutants. This method combines the advantages of droplet-based microfluidics, in-vitro protein expression and a novel random mutagenesis protocol to achieve unprecedented screening power. Our goal is to carry out functional screen for mutagenesis libraries of 10^12 diversity, allowing for up to 4 random mutations of a small-sized enzyme, or 9 site-specific mutations to be combinatorially saturated and screened.

Cambridge, MA, US

000 Not sure

I used to do fundamental biophysical measurements of cellular components for a long while before I was convinced to be bored and started working on protein evolution.

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 4+

David Weitz

Ultrahigh throughput screening, enzyme evolution

Computational design of novel proteins. Computational predicative algorithms for sequence-to-activity relation.

Mohamad Najia

mnajia@mit.edu

In my PhD, I worked at the interface of stem cell biology, epigenetics and synthetic biology to study and engineer stem cells. I identified novel chromatin regulators of natural killer (NK) cell development and utilized these mechanistic insights to generate different subtypes of NK cells from pluripotent stem cells for adoptive cell therapies. Furthermore, we discovered that the molecular mechanism of these chromatin regulators enables novel therapeutic approaches in lymphoma and other solid tumors.

Cambridge, MA, US

Research Fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Broad Institute

Boston Children’s Hospital

Building technologies to investigate the molecular logic of cellular decision-making and to understand how hematopoietic stem cells differentiate into various immune cells.

Academia: Fellow

I hiked Mount Fuji in Japan and saw the sunrise atop the mountain. I love to sail, bake, and woodworking.

Boston Children's Hospital/Broad Institute

Postdoc

George Daley, Paul Blainey

Cell therapy, immunology, synthetic biology, genomics, epigenetics, pluripotent stem cells, cancer

neuroinflammation, chemical biology, genome engineering, CRISPR technology development

Jay Qu

jayqu07@gmail.com

I use the photoelectric effect—the same phenomenon that Einstein won his Noble prize for, and the effect that underpins how solar cells operate—to study how electrons behave in materials (ARPES). My main research projects surround a layered material called BiTeCl, which has recently been predicted to be able to host efficient photocatalytic water splitting. I use state-of-the-art spin-resolved ARPES and time-resolved ARPES to study the electronic properties and lattice dynamics of this material, in addition to developing the instrumentation that makes these measurements possible.

Cambridge, MA, US

Senior Data Analyst at The Engine Ventures

The Enginer Ventures

Helping accelerate innovation in tough tech

VC

I work with big lasers.

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Zhi-Xun Shen

material physics, condensed matter, layered materials, quantum materials, battery materials, solar cells, energy science, photonics, quantum sensing, machine learning for materials discovery

thin film solar cells, machine learning for materials discovery, carbon capture (solid state), solid state electricity storage, recycling

Matthew Liu

mattliu@stanford.edu

I research methods of electrifying chemical separations and reactions to treat and recover nitrogen pollutants in wastewaters. I develop catalysts, reactors, and processes to treat various types of wastewaters, including reverse osmosis brines, human urine, agricultural runoff, tile drain runoff, groundwater, and more.

Cambridge, MA, US

Postdoctral Fellow at Yuriy Roman Lab at MIT

MIT

Developing mechanistic models for potential-dependent, solid acid-catalyzed surface reactions

Postdoc

I enjoy playing Chinese chess

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

William Tarpeh

electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, water treatment, resource recovery, ammonia synthesis

remediating air pollution; depolymerizing plastics.

Jack Lindsay

jacklindsay@g.harvard.edu

I'm building an in vitro model of an innervated intestinal epithelium to study the two-way communication between the gut and the brain. To do this, I'm culturing human neurons and human gut organoids from stem cells such that neurons synapse with epithelial cells. This model will be used to understand how information across the intestinal epithelium is integrated into neural signals, which in turn drive gut motility, nutrient uptake, and barrier integrity.

Cambridge, MA, US

PhD Candidate at Don Ingber and Mike Levin Lab at Harvard University

Harvard University

Studying the gut-brain axis through tissue engineering.

PhD

I recently created a party game around interpersonal connection, and have run it with parties of over 40 people.

Harvard University

PhD Student—year 3

Don Ingber and Mike Levin

organ-on-a-chip, gut-brain axis, tissue engineering, microfluidics

Communication across the body using extracellular vesicles, immune engineering and regenerative medicine, battery manufacturing, vascularization of organoids, wearable robotics, biomaterials

Thomas Young

tdyphd@gmail.com

Engineering bacteria to be more productive for making high-energy biofuels. Coupling electrical energy to bacterial metabolism to make various renewable chemical products.

Lafayette, CA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Berkeley Lab

Berkeley Lab

Postdoc

UC Berkeley

Postdoc

Jay Keasling

Biosynthesis, biofuels, renewable chemicals, genetic engineering, chemistry, bacteria

Ivan Jayapurna

ivanfj@berkeley.edu

Rational design of bioinspired additives to stabilize proteins in non-native environments (i.e., solvents, high temperatures). Currently, the main application is to embed enzymes in plastics to create truly compostable plastics with on-demand degradation to monomers from the inside out.

London, United Kingdom

Programme Director at ARIA

ARIA

Building new interdisciplinary communities, and craft a bold programme that leverages digital and biological revolutions to transition us out of the age of plastics into a new era of abundant, resilient, and bioharmonious materials.

Industry?

I've lived in 4 countries

UC Berkeley

PhD Student—year 4+

Ting Xu

polymers, proteins, AI, simulation

Food, Robots, Seaweed, Energy, Biomanufacturing

Akshay Maheshwari

akshay@bnext.bio

Building programmable cells from scratch

Mountain View, CA, USA

Co-founder and CEO at b.next

Providing on-demand design and construction of fully-defined, programmable cellular systems to help solve now-difficult or impossible biotechnology challenges.

Founder

CEO (post-MD/PhD)

N/A

cell modeling, synthetic cell engineering, synthetic biology, medicine

Fabio Boniolo

fabio_boniolo@dfci.harvard.edu

I study childhood cancer. Specifically, I exploit computational approaches and single cell sequencing technologies for patient stratification and target identification in Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children.

New York City, NY, US

Head of Computation at Stealth Startup

Stealth

Dedicated to finding innovative solutions to the most pressing problems in biology and medicine.

Founder

Dana Farber Cancer Institute

Postdoc

Volker Hovestadt

Computational biology, personalized medicine, oncology, epigenetics

Synthetic biology, rare diseases, neurodegenerative disorders

Cyrus Knudsen

cyrus.knudsen@stanford.edu

Because we want to make engineering biology easier, our lab works on a comprehensive computational simulation model of single E. coli cells ("whole-cell models"), in order to enable biologists to answer research questions with cell simulations.

I specifically work on inferring kinetic and regulatory parameters for enzymes and regulatory proteins, in order to create better models of metabolism and regulation.

Palo Alto, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Markus Covert Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Making elegant tools and models that are used for understanding living systems

PhD

I am an occasional dance teacher :)

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Markus Covert

mathematical modeling, computational modeling, parameter inference, high-throughput data, synthetic biology, strain engineering, metabolic engineering, data visualization

Wai Tong Chung

wtchung@stanford.edu

My research improves our understanding of the science behind novel energy and propulsion (rocket) systems with Machine Learning, AI for Science, and High-Performance Computing techniques.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

AI Researcher at Together AI

Together AI

Discovering ways to improve AI/ML models.

Late stage startup

Vienna is my favorite city for travel!

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 4+

Matthias Ihme

AI, Flow Physics, Energy, Propulsion, and Climate

Other AI Domains and Biotechnology

Carla Pinzon

carlapinzonmit@gmail.com

High Frequency Power Electronics for Underwater Applications

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

CEO at Expand Power

Expand Power

Working on compact smart transformer can be manufactured domestically with shortened lead times, expanding electrification opportunities in previously prohibited locations.

Founder

I dived with Great White's off the coast of South Africa!

Stanford

on Leave of Absence

-

power electronics, wide bandgap semiconductors

Entrepreneurship! Commercialization!

Lucie Guo

lucieguo@gmail.com

multiplexed gene therapy for polygenic diseases; synthetic biology for “smart” gene therapy

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Vitreoretinal Surgery Fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University

Academia: Fellow

I operate on eyeballs!

Stanford

Postdoc / clinical fellow

Stanley Qi / Sui Wang / Jeff Goldberg

CRISPR, synthetic biology, ophthalmology

Any!

David Ding

davidmding@gmail.com

I work on a green concrete project to enable increased carbon absorption in building materials, and develop tools for rationally engineering crop genetics.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Postdoctoral Researcher at Dave Savage Lab at UCSF

UCSF

Working on enzymes and chemical processes to decarbonize materials, and enabling CRISPR for fast crop improvements.

Postdoc

I've been trying to run 30 miles, with emphasis on trying :)

UC Berkeley

Postdoc

Dave Savage

Protein engineering

Anything that has potential for scale.

Anton Jackson-Smith

anton@bnext.bio

Building a synthetic cell. Chromosome design, cell system integration, and microscopy to create a cell from defined and well understood molecular parts.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder at b.next

Building synthetic cells to solve problems and move biology from research to engineering.

Founder

I've been running a burning man camp for the last six years.

Stanford

PhD graduate

Drew Endy

Synthetic biology, synthetic cells, DNA design, software engineering, hardware, ethics, art

Machine learning, high throughput experiments, directed evolution, design of programming languages.

Danilo Dubocanin

dubocd@stanford.edu

I develop and apply tools to understand protein-DNA interactions at the single molecule level. Using these tools I probe fundamental cellular processes at an unprecedented resolution.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Nicolas Altemose Lab at Stanford University

Stanford University

Deciphering the (epi)genome.

PhD

Ran the SF half-marathon this year!

Stanford University

PhD Student—year 1 or 2

Nick Altemose

Genomics, 3rd-gen Sequencing

Genome Engineering, Protein Design, Interface of AI and Healthcare/Genetics, Population Genetics

Tony (Tiange) Qu

tony.qu@ucsf.edu

I am fascinated by the face, one of the only organs in the body for which we care about both its functionality and its aesthetics. For my PhD project, I am studying the molecular and cellular basis of craniofacial development and disease, including cleft lip/palate and Down Syndrome. I look forward to pairing my research with dental school training in the near future to advance oral and facial healthcare.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

DDS/PhD Candidate at Licia Selleri and Georgia Panagiotakos Labs at UCSF

UCSF

Interested in the mechanisms that govern craniofacial development with the goal of finding potential clinical treatment on craniofacial defects.

PhD

I won cutest baby award in kindergarten

UCSF

PhD Student—year 4+

Licia Selleri and Georgia Panagiotakos

dentistry, genetics, developmental biology, cleft lip and palate, craniofacial development

I am very open-minded. I am quite excited about using bioengineering to hijack cellular processes to achieve therapeutic outcomes. I am also interested in learning about AI/ML in healthcare/research.

Laine Goudy

laine.goudy@ucsf.edu

CRISPR technologies can be used for multiplexed gene engineering and reprogramming of T cell therapies for cancer treatment. Two pressing challenges in reprogramming T cell therapies include 1) increasing efficacy in immunosuppressive solid tumors, and 2) generating safe, durable, and cost effective allogeneic T cell products. I am currently working on a comprehensive discovery and engineering research program to understand and solve these challenges through multiplexed editing in CAR T cells using novel CRISPR-based tools.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

PhD Candidate at Luke Gilbert and Alex Marson Labs at UCSF

UCSF

Interested in the intersection of functional genomics and epigenetic editing to better understand CD8+ T cell differentiation.

PhD

Biking and skiing are my favorite hobbies. This past March I biked 150 miles in Death Valley!

UCSF-Gladstone Institutes

PhD Student—year 4+

Luke Gilbert, Alex Marson

Epigenetic editing, CAR T cell engineering, DNA methylation

Targeted delivery platforms for gene therapies (LNPs, AAVs, or other novel mechanisms), Oncolytic viruses for cancer therapeutics, Synthetic biology for regenerative agriculture

Yue Clare Lou

clare.lou@berkeley.edu

I use computational biology to investigate the formation of our gut microbiome and how events such as premature birth and antibiotics intake impact the development of our microbiome and our health.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder and CEO at Sift Biosciences

Sift Biosciences

Developing next-generation immunomodulators

Founder

I had a baby pig when I was a kid

UC Berkeley

Just graduated from my PhD

Jill Banfield

gut microbiome; personalized health

drug discovery for cancer treatments; hormone and microbiome

Evan Gardner

ejgard.lithium@gmail.com

The sustainable extraction and conversion of naturally occuring lithium resources. Developing technologies required to more than quadruple lithium production in North America.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

Co-founder and CTO at Electroflow

Electroflow

Designing and scaling revolutionary electrochemical technology to deliver sustainable, cathode-ready lithium from domestic brine resources.

Founder

I like building/working on bikes and my next project will focus on mostly used parts.

Stanford University (no longer affiliated)

Current founder, former postdoc

Matteo Cargnello (no longer affiliated)

Synthetic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, nano materials, catalysis, electrochemistry

Geochemistry, sustainable water processing, batteries

Vivasvan Vykunta

vivasvan99@gmail.com

My projects focus on understanding immune interactions to find targets for novel immunotherapeutic drugs. We are developing screening tools and technologies that will allow researchers to explore how cells interact together against infections and tumors rather than studying single cell types in isolation.

San Francisco Bay Area, CA, US

MD/PhD at Matthew Krummel Lab at UCSF

UCSF

Enhancing anti-tumor immunity via myeloid and T cell modulations

PhD

I recently started dabbling in astrophotography!

UCSF