Dr. Thu Thuy Dang
Dang Group integrates biochemistry, chemistry, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics to elucidate and engineer the biosynthesis of valuable small molecules from medicinal plants.
Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, Department of Chemistry
Email Address: thuy.dang@ubc.ca
Bio: Dang Group integrates biochemistry, chemistry, bioinformatics, and molecular genetics to elucidate and engineer the biosynthesis of valuable small molecules from medicinal plants. Our ultimate aim is to learn and to translate natural metabolism into innovative biotechnologies to meet the ever-increasing demands of high-value chemicals. Our current projects involve: discovering new biosynthetic enzymes and pathways, generating alkaloid structural and functional diversities, and re-constituting natural products metabolism in synthetic biology chassis.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/plantbiocore/home?authuser=0
Dr. Steven Hallam
Dr. Hallam directs the ECOSCOPE innovation ecosystem consisting of an NSERC CREATE training program, a research network, a core facility for high-throughput screening and a curriculum development initiative in data science based on four research and training pillars.
Professor, University of British Columbia
Email Address: shallam@mail.ubc.ca
Bio: Dr. Steven Hallam is a University of California Santa Cruz and MIT trained molecular biologist, microbial ecologist, entrepreneur, and innovator with over 20 years experience in field and laboratory research at disciplinary interfaces. He is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, former Canada Research Chair in Environmental Genomics and a Leopold Leadership Fellow. He is also a program faculty member in the Bioinformatics and Genome Sciences and Technology training programs at UBC.
Dr. Hallam directs the ECOSCOPE innovation ecosystem consisting of an NSERC CREATE training program, a research network, a core facility for high-throughput screening and a curriculum development initiative in data science based on four research and training pillars: i) microbial ecology, ii) biological engineering, iii) data science, and iv) networking and entrepreneurship. His research intersects these program pillars with specific emphasis on the creation of functional screens and computational tools that reveal hidden metabolic powers of uncultivated microbial communities with direct application to biocatalyst discovery and pathway engineering.
Website: http://ecoscope.ubc.ca
Twitter: @HallamLab
Dr. Vikramaditya Yadav
The principal theme of Prof. Yadav’s research is the utilization of metabolic & enzyme engineering to investigate and customize novel biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicals.
Associate Professor of Chemical, Biological & Biomedical Engineering & Program Director of Sustainable Process Engineering, University of British Columbia
Email Address: vikramaditya.yadav@ubc.ca
Bio: Vikramaditya G. Yadav is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Master of Engineering Leadership in Sustainable Process Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Prof. Yadav leads one of Canada’s foremost research groups on synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology. The principal theme of Prof. Yadav’s research is the utilization of metabolic & enzyme engineering to investigate and customize novel biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicals. His group also extends the principles of metabolic engineering to the design and development of unique bioremediation strategies to rehabilitate the water quality in and around industrial zones and develop new mining biotechnologies. In addition to green engineering, his research group also pursues medical biotechnology research, wherein they primarily focus on assay development, biosynthetic engineering, and pharmaceutical product development. Prof. Yadav’s research program is distinguished by its impact and strong emphasis on technology translation. Prof. Yadav has successfully raised over $5 million in research funding and his group collaborates with numerous industry partners from a range of sectors. He is also the Chair of the Biotechnology Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada and an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering. He was previously an Associate Scientific Advisor for Science Translational Medicine. He also founded Metabolik Technologies Inc. and was its Chief Technology Officer until it was recently acquired by Allonnia, a Bill Gates-backed environmental biotechnology company. Metabolik is widely regarded as a Canadian success story and was developing a first-of-its-kind bioremediation platform for decontaminating oil sands process-affected water. He is also the Chief Technology Officer and Chairman of ArqMetal Inc., which is developing biotechnological solutions for the mining industry. He also serves on the boards of InMed Pharmaceuticals and Reazent.
Website: www.biofoundry.ca
Twitter: @biofoundry
Dr. Peter Zandstra
Research in the Zandstra Laboratory is focused on the generation of functional tissue from somatic and pluripotent stem cells. Our quantitative, technology-driven approach strives to gain new insights into fundamental mechanisms that control stem cell fate and to develop robust technologies for the propagation of stem cells and their derivatives.
Professor & Director, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia / Professor, University of Toronto
Email Address: peter.zandstra@ubc.ca
Bio: Research in the Zandstra Laboratory is focused on the generation of functional tissue from somatic and pluripotent stem cells. Our quantitative, technology-driven approach strives to gain new insights into fundamental mechanisms that control stem cell fate and to develop robust technologies for the propagation of stem cells and their derivatives. We apply synthetic biology to understand and control cell fate decisions by manipulating the stem cells themselves (genome editing, gene circuit engineering) and their prospective niche (synthetic biomaterials, macro- and micro reactor technologies).
Website: http://stemcell.ibme.utoronto.ca/
Twitter: @PZandstra