UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM

Louis is a PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Dr Stephen Wallace’s group. The lab’s research focuses on sustainable synthesis of important industrial chemicals from renewable feedstocks by interfacing engineered microorganisms with biocompatible catalysis. Previous to his PhD Louis worked for industrial biotechnology company Ingenza for four years where he engineered various bacteria (E. coli, B. subtilis, P. putida) and yeast (S. cerevisiae, P. pastoris) for sustainable production of diverse fine chemicals and high-value proteins. He specialised in development of high-throughput and automated engineering strategies. Louis is interested in the development and application of new biological technologies, synbio investment and connecting scientists across Europe.

KU LEUVEN, BELGIUM

Paola is a PhD student at KU Leuven in Belgium. She is working under the supervision of Professor Vitor Pinheiro. Her main focus is automating and optimising techniques for the directed evolution of xeno-nucleic acid (XNA) polymerases. She is also developing computational methods for Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) data analysis to accelerate protein engineering. She is also interested in using SynBio for bioremediation and developing eco-friendly alternatives to everyday essentials.

UNIVERSITY OF LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND

Içvara is a PhD student in the group of Prof. Yolanda Schaerli at the University of Lausanne. His research focuses on the formation of spatiotemporal pattern with synthetic gene regulatory networks. Through a bottom-up approach, his work highlights core molecular patterning mechanisms of development biology, strongly contributing to the construction of self-assembling synthetic living
tissues and materials.

LESAFFRE, FRANCE

Stefano is a synthetic biology scientist working at the biofoundry of Lesaffre (Lille, FR) since July 2022. Priorly, he was a post-doc at the Biocomputation group at the Center for Biotechnology and Genetics of Plants (CBGP) in Madrid, working on automation and Pseudomonas putida. Until 2019 he was a Marie Curie PhD candidate (ProteinFactoy consortium) in the Netherlands, at Groningen University and DSM B.V., researching protein sorting and secretion in Bacillus. In addition to his research topics, Stefano is interested in entrepreneurship of SynBio products, in DIY development and integration of automated tools, and in the legislative framework for biotechnological applications.

KU LEUVEN, BELGIUM

Santiago is a PhD student at KU Leuven, Belgium, working under the supervision of Prof. Vitor Pinheiro. Before starting his doctoral studies, he worked for four years in the R&D sector of a company developing biological indicators for sterlization control. Currently, his research focuses on engineering RNA-RNA loop interactions, selecting novel xenobiotic nucleic acid aptamers, and writing computational prediction models to simulate wet-lab aptamer selection processes. Whithin his main intrests, he is enthusiastic about creating new biotech tools that will contribute to the establishment of safer, more efficient, and greener industrial products and processes.

WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, THE NETHERLANDS

Sonia is a MSc student in Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology at the Wageningen University and Research. She joined the WUR iGEM team 2022, where she firstly met the Synthetic Biology world. During her master thesis she worked on biosafety and microbiome engineering for diagnostic purposes, while at the moment she is still working on microbiome engineering but for therapeutic purposes. She aims to continue her career in academia in Synthetic Biology as she thinks that this field has the potential to help transitioning to a more sustainable future and improving the fields of therapetics and diagnostics.

UNIVERSITY OF MINHO, PORTUGAL

Joana L Rodrigues is a Post-Doc researcher at Centre of Biological Engineering and an Invited Assistant Professor at Biological Engineering Department from University of Minho since 2019. She received her MSc in biological engineering in 2010 and her PhD in Bioengineering Systems (MIT-Portugal Program) in 2014 from the University of Minho. During her PhD, she was a visiting student for one year at the Prather Lab, where she worked on the design and construction of a biosynthetic pathway for the production of curcuminoids in Escherichia coli. Since then, she has been working in synthetic biology field. Currently, her research interests include the use of synthetic biology tools to construct biosynthetic pathways for the production of therapeutic and industrially relevant compounds. She is also involved in the use of metagenomic approaches to identify novel enzymes and bioactive molecules, and in the development of cancer and pathogen detection biosensors and anti-adhesive biomaterials using synthetic biology approaches.

UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA, SPAIN

Jose Eduardo is a synthetic biology scientist who currently works at the Institute of Integrative Systems Biology (i2SysBio) and the Centro de Investigación Principe Felipe (CIPF) in Valencia, Spain. He received his Master of Science degree in Systems and Synthetic Biology from the Université Paris Saclay in 2022. Jose is currently pursuing two parallel projects. The first project involves the single-cell timelapse microscopy analysis of bacterial biosensors. The second project focuses on the cellular control of the epithelial to mesenchymal transformation (EMT). Jose plans to start his PhD in the coming years to further develop his professional career in Synthetic Biology. His main interests lie in the application of SynBio to the medical field and entrepreneurship. Jose is passionate about using his expertise to make a positive impact in the world and looks forward to making significant contributions in his field.

UNIVERSITY OF PARIS-SACLAY, FRANCE

Stephen Mukuze is an MSc student in Life Sciences and Health, specializing in Systems and Synthetic Biology. He was introduced to synthetic biology in 2019 as part of the UEAB-Kenya iGEM team. Since then, Stephen has become a leading advocate for synthetic biology, serving as the SynBio Africa ambassador for Southern Africa since 2020. In 2021, he represented the field of synthetic biology at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) summit as an after-iGEM fellow. In the same year, he co-founded Umkele, a multi-award-winning synthetic biology start-up that is poised to make a significant impact in the field. Stephen has demonstrated his unwavering commitment to advancing the field of synthetic biology, as he believes it can play a critical role in solving some of today's most pressing problems.

UNIVERSITY OF MINHO, PORTUGAL

Diana P. Pires is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre of Biological Engineering from University of Minho, Portugal. She completed her PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2016 at the University of Minho in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US. Her research interests are focused on developing and applying synthetic biology tools to enhance the antibacterial properties of bacteriophages (bacterial viruses), particularly targeting the pathogenic bacterium P. aeruginosa. During her postdoc, she also worked as Visiting Researcher at KU Leuven (Belgium) and Laval Univeristy (Canada). Her research led her to win the prestigious L'Oréal Portugal Medal of Honor for Women in Science 2019.

KU LEUVEN, BELGIUM

Rosa is a PhD researcher at KU Leuven in Prof. Vitor Pinheiro’s group in Belgium. Her current research focuses on the development of standard tools to facilitate the engineering of non-model microorganisms, with the goal of making genome engineering endeavors more predictable and accessible to a broader range of microorganisms. Since her undergraduate studies, she has been involved in SynBio projects ranging from genetic code expansion in wild-type bacteria to the directed evolution of novel protein therapeutics. Rosa is interested in promoting collaboration and connectivity within the European synthetic biology community and beyond.

UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, UNITED KINGDOM

Uriel is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh's Center for Engineering Biology. His current research focuses on studying bacterial electrophysiology using single-cell microscopy techniques and biosensor technology design using synthetic biology tools. He first became interested in synthetic biology when he joined his first iGEM team in 2014, and he has since been involved in a number of activities that promote the use of synthetic biology as a tool for developing sustainable biotechnologies. In 2017, he was named a 'Leader of Tomorrow' by the Global Biotech Revolution and was also recognized by Allbiotech as one of the '100 Young Leaders of Biotechnology' shaping the Latin American biotechnology landscape. Aside from his primary research interests, he is also interested in developing enabling tools that promote the development of a global bioeconomy, the democratisation of biotechnology, and utilizing biotechnology to address issues concerning the environment and food production system.