Biology | Higher education » Top 20 Influencers in Synthetic Biology

Source: http://www.doksinet terrapinn.com/synbio Top 20 Influencers in Synthetic Biology Source: http://www.doksinet Top 20 synthetic biology influencers Who are the most influential people at the scientific and commercial end of synthetic biology? This is the question we asked our blog subscribers, LinkedIn group members and anyone in our contact network to compile a comprehensive list of the Top 20 as named by you. The following 20 personalities were picked based on their career achievements whether this was groundbreaking discovery and research or innovation, lifetime dedication or simply because they might have inspired others to do well. It is great to see that we have representatives from both academic and industry organisations. Thank you to everyone who has helped us compile the list and please feel free to share it with your colleagues. Source: http://www.doksinet 20 Lionel Clarke Biodomain Global Strategic Programme Manager Shell Global Solutions Lionel Clarke is

also Chairman of the UK Synthetic Biology Roadmap Coordination Group. The Working Group is tasked with producing a roadmap setting out ambitions for developing synthetic biology in the UK. terrapinn.com/synbio Lionel Clarke is the Biodomain Global Strategic Programme Manager for Shell Global Solutions at the Shell Technology Centre Thornton, UK. In this role he is responsible for planning and delivery of Shell strategic research and technology programmes across the Biodomain, deploying internal and external resources to deliver innovative solutions to market. Within Shell he has gained extensive experience working at the interface between fuels and engines, designing new and improved fuels and introducing them into markets. Source: http://www.doksinet 19 As Director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, Dr. Somerville oversees all open activities at the Institute, including research, communications, education and outreach. He also chairs the Institutes Executive Committee and

reports to the Governance Board. Dr. Somerville is a professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a visiting scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research focuses on the characterization of proteins implicated in plant cell-wall synthesis and modification. The research program in his lab is largely directed toward understanding how plant cell wall polysaccharides are synthesized, how the structures relate to the functions of the cell wall, and how the system is regulated. He envisions that knowledge of cell wall structure and function will facilitate the development of plants with improved utility as sources of renewable materials and as biofuel feedstocks. He has published more than 200 scientific papers in plant and microbial genetics, genomics, biochemistry and biotechnology. terrapinn.com/synbio Chris Somerville, Director Energy Biosciences Institute; Professor, Department of Plant and Microbial

Biology University of California, Berkeley Source: http://www.doksinet 18 David Baker Professor of Biochemistry University of Washington Dr. Baker is also a professor of biochemistry and an adjunct professor of genome sciences, bioengineering, chemical engineering, computer science and physics at the University of Washington, Seattle. His Awards include the Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics, Centenary Award, Biochemical Society, Foresight Institute Feynman Prize, AAAS Newcomb Cleveland Prize, International Society for Computational Biology Overton Prize and Protein Society Young Investigator Award. terrapinn.com/synbio David Baker is an American biochemist and computational biologist who studies methods to predict the three-dimensional structures of proteins. He is a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Washington (UW) where he is the principal investigator of the 60+ member Baker laboratory. He is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute

investigator, and is also a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. Source: http://www.doksinet 17 Jason is Professor of Chemistry & Chemical Biology at the University of Cambridge, and holds a joint appointment at the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry. He is also a fellow in Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was an undergraduate at Oxford University, where he worked with Professor John Sutherland on Cephalosporin biosynthesis. He obtained his PhD as a Fulbright grantee from Yale University, working with Professor Alanna Schepartz on the design and evolution of miniature proteins. He was a Damon Runyon Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute with Professor Peter Schultz where he developed the first approaches to systematically expand the genetic code of eukaryotic cells and pioneered approaches, that are now widely used, for defining protein interactions by genetically encoding photocrosslinking amino acids. He was awarded the

Francis Crick Prize by the Royal Society in 2009 and the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Corday Morgan Prize in 2010. He was also awarded the European Molecular Biology Organization’s (EMBO) Gold Medal and elected to EMBO membership in 2010. He is the inaugural recipient (2011) of the Louis-Jeantet Young Investigator Career Award, selected from amongst winners of ERC grants. terrapinn.com/synbio Jason Chin Programme Leader Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology; Head Centre for Chemical & Synthetic Biology Source: http://www.doksinet 16 Tim Gardner Director of Research Programs & Operations Amyris His work has also been recognized by Scientific American, the New Scientist, Technology Review, and the New York Times. Tim currently serves on the boards of the ENIGMA project at Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, and the Boston University Alumni Leadership Council. terrapinn.com/synbio Dr Timothy Gardner serves as the Director of Research Programs &

Operations at Amyris, a company producing high-performance chemical products from the fermentation of renewable feedstocks including sugarcane and lignocellulosic biomass. At Amyris, Tim leads the R&D program for farnesene-producing microbes and manufacturing process technologies. Farnesene is Amyris’ base molecule for its renewable diesel fuel, jet fuel, lubricant, cosmetic oil and polymer products. He also previously served as the Director of Computational Biology at Amyris. Source: http://www.doksinet 15 Jim Haseloff Head of Laboratory University of Cambridge Prior to joining the Department of Plant Sciences, Jim served as group leader at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge and his group developed advanced imaging techniques and modified fluorescent proteins for efficient use in plants. Before this, Jim was a research fellow at Harvard Medical School, working on trans-splicing ribozymes. He has also worked at the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry, Canberra,

and developed methods for the design of the first synthetic RNA enzymes with novel substrate specificities. Jim is deeply involved with teaching Synthetic Biology at the University of Cambridge, and is very interested in its wider potential as a tool for engineering biological systems and underpinning sustainable technologies. terrapinn.com/synbio Jim Haseloff is a plant biologist working at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. His scientific interests are focused on the engineering of plant morphogenesis, using microscopy, molecular genetic, computational and synthetic biology techniques. Source: http://www.doksinet 14 Professor Kitney is also Senior Dean and Director of the Graduate School of Engineering and Physical Science, Imperial College London. He was the first Head of Department of the Department of Bioengineering and the Director of the Centre of Medical and Biological Systems. Prof. Kitney has published over 300 papers in the fields of biomedical

signal and image processing, medical visualisation, medical informatics and the general application of computers to healthcare. Kitney is also currently Co-Director of the Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation (CSynBI). It was established in January 2009 at Imperial College London in partnership with the BIOS Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. CSynBI is funded through a 5-year EPSRC Science and Innovation Award that aims to build new activity in areas of national strategic importance, with a particular focus on supporting new research leaders. terrapinn.com/synbio Richard Kitney Professor of Biomedical Systems Engineering, Department of Bioengineering Imperial College London Source: http://www.doksinet 13 Pamela Silver Professor of Systems Biology Harvard Medical School Her work was recognized by an Innovation Award at BIO2007 and has been funded by grants from the NIH, DoD, NSF, Novartis, Merck, and The Keck Foundation. She currently holds an

NIH MERIT award She also initiated and co-directs the Harvard undergraduate team for the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition (iGEM). terrapinn.com/synbio Pamela Silver, Ph.D, currently researches the logical engineering of biology and the use of genomics, genetics, and cell-based screens in the study of diseases and drug action. She is one of the founders of the new area of synthetic biology, where she is building cell-based machines, developing protein-based logic for design of novel therapeutics, and engineering cells as sources of bio-energy and optimization of carbon dioxide fixation. Source: http://www.doksinet 12 Professor Freemont is also co-founder and co-director of the EPSRC Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation at Imperial College London. The Centre is the first of its kind in the UK and aims to develop foundational technologies to enable synthetic biology research in application areas like biosensors, biosynthesis, bioprocessing and

metabolic and genome engineering. He is also co-founder of a spin out company Equinox Pharma Ltd and has held a number of external positions and is currently the chair of the Diamond Light Source Scientific Advisory Committee and board member of the MRC Molecular and Cellular Medicines Board. terrapinn.com/synbio Paul Freemont Co-PI of the Macromolecular Structure and Function Laboratory, Department of Life Sciences Imperial College London Source: http://www.doksinet 11 Christopher Voigt is an American synthetic biologist, molecular biophysicist, and engineer. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His research interests focus on the reprogramming of bacterial organisms to perform coordinated, complex tasks for pharmaceutical and industrial applications. He is a member of the National Science Foundation-funded Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center, called SynBERC, and works in the

developing field of synthetic biology. terrapinn.com/synbio Christopher Voigt Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering MIT; Editor-in-Chief ACS Synthetic Biology Source: http://www.doksinet 10 Rino Rappuoli Global Head of Vaccines Research Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Most recently a team of international researchers from the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA, US Department of Health and Human Services), Institut fur Virologie, Phillips University and Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, has published a study detailing new methods to rapidly generate influenza vaccine seeds by using synthetic genomics tools and technologies. terrapinn.com/synbio Rino Rappuoli is Global Head of Vaccines Research at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics and is based in Siena, Italy. He is known globally for his work in vaccines and immunology. He co-founded the field of cellular

microbiology, a discipline combining cell biology and microbiology, and pioneered the genomic approach to vaccine development known as reverse vaccinology. Source: http://www.doksinet 9 Joseph Jacobson Associate Professor MIT Jacobson received his PhD in Physics from MIT and was a post-doctoral fellow at Stanford in the area of Quantum Optics. He is the recipient of a 1999 Technology Review TR100 Award for Innovation, The 2000 Gutenberg Prize and a 2001 Discover Award. He has authored over 70 peer reviewed papers and conference proceedings in the fields of femotosecond lasers, quantum optics, molecular electronics, nano-chemistry and synthetic DNA. In the private sector Jacobson was co-founder of E Ink, Kovio and Gen9 and was a founding board member of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) which is focused on developing a $100 laptop for kids. terrapinn.com/synbio Joseph Jacobson is Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he is co-PI of the Center for

Bits and Atoms and leads the Molecular Machine Group. His group at MIT is focused on pioneering the field of Avogadro Scale Engineering with applications in novel computing machines and synthetic biology. Source: http://www.doksinet 8 Randy Rettberg Principal Research Engineer, Biological Engineering Division MIT; President iGEM Randy is coordinator of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM)competition. iGEM is the premiere undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition, started at MIT in 2003 by Rettberg, Tom Knight, and Drew Endy, and now drawing 180 student teams who use existing and newly created BioBrick™ parts to build biological systems and operate them in living cells. Rettberg is also the manager of the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, a continuously growing collection of genetic parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems. terrapinn.com/synbio Rettberg is staunch evangelist for synthetic biology. An engineer

by training, he worked for years at Internet pioneer BBN (now Genuity), later moved to Sun Microsystems, where he was CTO for storage systems, and then came to MIT. Source: http://www.doksinet 7 James Collins Professor of Biomedical Engineering Boston University Collins has been involved with a number of start-up companies, and his inventions and technologies have been licensed by several biotech and medical device companies. Collins currently chairs the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of Sample6 Technologies and EnBiotix, and serves on the SAB of Joule Unlimited, Selventa, Seres Health, enEvolv, Synereca Pharmaceuticals, LifeWave Ltd, Excel Medical Ventures and PureTech Ventures. terrapinn.com/synbio James Collins is an American bioengineer, Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. He is one of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology, and a pioneering researcher in systems biology,

having made fundamental discoveries regarding the actions of antibiotics and the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Source: http://www.doksinet 6 Professor Weiss is also affiliated to the Dept. of Biological Engineering, Dept of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Center for Synthetic Biology. Professors Weiss’ research interests include synthetic biology, construction and analysis of synthetic gene networks, use of computer engineering principles of abstraction, composition, and interface specifications to program cells with sensors and actuators precisely controlled by analog and digital logic circuitry. Emphasis on establishing the engineering foundation for synthetic biology and the pursuit of novel applications enabled by the technology (e.g programmed tissue engineering, diabetes, engineered neuronal circuits). terrapinn.com/synbio Ron Weiss Associate Professor of Biological Engineering; Director, Synthetic Biology Center MIT Source: http://www.doksinet 5

J Craig Venter Founder, Chairman and CEO J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) In addition to his role at SGI, he is founder, president and chairman of the J. Craig Venter Institute. Craig was also the founder of Human Genome Sciences, Diversa Corporation and Celera Genomics. He and his teams have sequenced more than 300 organisms including human, fruit fly, mouse, rat, and dog as well as numerous microorganisms and plants. Craig is also the key leader in the field of synthetic genomics. This work, trying to create the first synthetic genome, is leading to extraordinary advances in engineering microorganisms for many vital energy and environmental applications used at SGI. Craig is the author of more than 200 research articles and is among the most cited scientists in the world. He is the recipient of numerous honorary degrees and scientific awards including the 2008 National Medal of Science. Craig is also a member of many prestigious scientific organizations including the National

Academy of Sciences. terrapinn.com/synbio Dr. J Craig Venter is regarded as one of the leading scientists of the 21st century for his invaluable contributions in genomic research, most notably for the first sequencing and analysis of the human genome published in 2001 and the most recent and most complete sequencing of his diploid human genome in 2007. Source: http://www.doksinet 4 Tom Knight Senior Research Scientist, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory MIT Considered by most to be a father of the field of synthetic biology, Tom Knight co-launched the Registry of Standard Biological Parts and the iGEM competition. He also invented the BioBrick™ standard for physical composition of genetic parts that underpins the Registry and iGEM competition. terrapinn.com/synbio Tom Knight is a Senior Research Scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Tom is well-known for numerous seminal contributions to electrical engineering and

computer science. He has over 30 patents and has started several companies including Symbolics, Exa, Polychip, Tenedos, Silicon Spice, High Speed Solutions, Permabit, Microdisplay, and Scalable Display Technologies. Source: http://www.doksinet 3 Drew Endy Assistant Professor of Bioengineering Stanford University Drew co-founded the MIT Synthetic Biology working group and the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, and organized the First International Conference on Synthetic Biology. With colleagues he taught the 2003 and 2004 MIT Synthetic Biology labs that led to the organization of iGEM, the international Genetically Engineered Machine competition. In 2005 Drew co-founded the BioBricks Foundation. Drew’s research interests are the engineering of integrated biological systems and error detection and correction in reproducing machines. terrapinn.com/synbio Drew Endy is one of the leaders in the field of synthetic biology. His work continues to shape and drive the development

of the field, both in terms of the creation of BioBrick™ standard parts but also in terms of the human side of the field. The BioBricks Foundation was created by Endy and several close colleagues who are also scientific leaders in the synbio field. Source: http://www.doksinet 2 Jay Keasling Professor of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering University of California In 2009, Keasling was awarded the first annual Biotech Humanitarian Award by BIO, the Biotechnology Industry Organization. In 2004, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $42.5 million grant to the Institute for OneWorld Health to develop and distribute the low-cost malaria treatment based on Keaslings technology. In 2006 Discover magazine awarded its first ever Scientist of the Year Award to Jay Keasling. Keasling is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Other related research interests include systems biology and environmental biotechnology. terrapinn.com/synbio Jay Keasling is also Associate

Laboratory Director for Biosciences at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Founding Head of the Synthetic Biology Department in the Physical Biosciences Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and chief executive officer of the Joint BioEnergy Institute. He is considered one of the foremost authorities in synthetic biology, especially in the field of metabolic engineering. Source: http://www.doksinet 1 George McDonald Church Professor of Genetics Harvard Medical School In 2011, Church was awarded the Bower Award and Prize for Achievement in Science of the Franklin Institute (awarded once every 7 years in Life Sciences). Other honours include the American Society for Microbiology Promega Biotechnology Research Award in 2009, the Triennial International Steven Hoogendijk Award in 2010, the Scientific American Top 50 twice (for “Designing artificial life” in 2005 and "The $1000 genome" in 2006). Newsweek picked Church for their 2008 “Power of

Ideas” recognition in the category of Medicine (for the Personal Genome Project). In September 2010, Dr Church was honoured for his work in Genetics with the Mass High Tech All-Star Award. He was elected to both the National Academy of Sciences (in 2011) and the National Academy of Engineering (in 2012). terrapinn.com/synbio George McDonald Church is an American geneticist, molecular engineer, and chemist. He is Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT, and founding core member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. He is widely regarded as a pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. Source: http://www.doksinet Want to know more. The Worlds leading event for research, innovation and commercial application of Synthetic Biology SynBio 2014 is the first fully commercial conference and exhibition to recognise and respond to the opportunities raised by

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