Dr. Christopher Brett
Using humanized S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast) as a platform to develop new medicines.
Associate Professor, Concordia University
Email Address: christopher.brett@concordia.ca
Bio: Using humanized S. cerevisiae (baker's yeast) as a platform to develop new medicines.
Website: https://christoperbrett.wixsite.com/brettlab
Twitter: @drbrettphd
Dr. Laura Keffer-Wilkes
I am the primary investigator for the Lethbridge high school iGEM team and the manager of SynBridge, the U of L's synthetic biology maker space.
Instructor & lab manager, University of Lethbridge
Email Address: kefferwilkesl@uleth.ca
Bio: I am the primary investigator for the Lethbridge high school iGEM team and the manager of SynBridge, the U of L's synthetic biology maker space.
Website: https://www.uleth.ca/core-facilities/synthetic-biology
Twitter: @LethHS_iGEM @SynBridge @InnovationRNA
Dr. Trevor Charles
Professor Charles is a microbiologist with expertise in bacterial molecular genetics. His research group studies the mechanisms of gene regulatory circuits that control the interactions of Rhizobiales bacteria such as Sinorhizobium meliloti with their eukaryal hosts.
Professor, Waterloo Centre for Microbial Research, University of Waterloo / CSO, Metagenom Bio Inc.
Email Address: tcharles@uwaterloo.ca
Bio: Professor Charles is a microbiologist with expertise in bacterial molecular genetics. His research group studies the mechanisms of gene regulatory circuits that control the interactions of Rhizobiales bacteria such as Sinorhizobium meliloti with their eukaryal hosts.
The group also develops methods for functional metagenomics using alternate surrogate hosts, and employs these methods to isolate novel genes with interesting functions from microbial community genomic libraries.
Current research emphasis is on functional metagenomics, bioplastics and bacterial genome engineering.
Website: https://uwaterloo.ca/biology/people-profiles/trevor-c-charles
Twitter: @trevorcharles
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. Bogumil Karas
Research in the Karas lab is focused on developing innovative genetic tools to enable the engineering of microbes to produce medicines, DNA storage technologies, food and next-generation fuels.
Assistant Professor, Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario / CEO Designer Microbes
Email Address: bkaras@uwo.ca
Bio: Research in the Karas lab is focused on developing innovative genetic tools to enable the engineering of microbes to produce medicines, DNA storage technologies, food and next-generation fuels. We are using a multi-host system to perform in vivo gene deletions, additions and replacements. This approach was designed to take advantage of existing genetic tools developed for model organisms, including Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Currently, we are developing novel tools for eukaryotic algae: Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Thalassiosira pseudonana and soil bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti.
Website: https://www.schulich.uwo.ca/biochem/people/bios/Karas.html
Twitter: @BogumilKaras
Dr. Angeliki Pantazi/Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre
Intersection of genome sequencing/bioinformatics, interpretation and editing.
Scientific Officer - Southern Alberta Genome Sciences Centre / Primary Investigator - Lethbridge iGEM Team
Email Address: angeliki.pantazi@uleth.ca
Bio: Intersection of genome sequencing/bioinformatics, interpretation and editing.
Website: www.sagsc.org
Twitter: @apantaz
BioZone
BioZone aims to use Bioengineering to create a sustainable world by making industrial processes more sustainable, remediating humanity's environmental impact, and improving health outcome.
BioZone, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto
Bio: BioZone is a Centre for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering Research at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.
BioZone aims to use Bioengineering to create a sustainable world by making industrial processes more sustainable, remediating humanity's environmental impact, and improving health outcome.
For example, to help make industrial processes more environmentally friendly and reduce carbon emissions, we help companies replace petroleum feedstocks with renewable sources, including waste material from agriculture and forestry sectors, by engineering microbes and enzymes that can convert sugars or complex organics (lignin) into value-added chemicals and materials.
BioZone's synbio relevant skills include metagenomics, enzymology, functional genomics, enzyme engineering, metabolic and whole cell modeling, systems biology, computational biology, bioprocess design, techno-economic assessment, and lifecycle analysis.
Website: www.biozone.utoronto.ca
Twitter: @BioZoneUT
Dr. David McMillen
We work on (mainly) microbial synthetic biology, investigating ways to create novel solutions to real-world problems with engineered microbes.
Associate Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
Email Address: david.mcmillen@utoronto.ca
Bio: We work on (mainly) microbial synthetic biology, investigating ways to create novel solutions to real-world problems with engineered microbes. We pursue several parallel tracks: (1) Combined theoretical and experimental approaches to biological feedback and synthetic implementations of networks that maintain fixed outputs in the face of external disturbances; (2) Expanding the synthetic biology "toolkit" to include novel modes of regulation (including a recruitable T7-based activation system that provides a system to generate programmable, orthogonal sets of transcriptional activators in bacteria); and (3) the motivation for the other two tracks: application to real-world problems including human health in the developed world (working with a multi-PI team on sensing and responding to inflammatory bowel diseases using engineered microbes) and in the developing world (implementing microbe-based antibody detection in blood samples, for low-cost blood screening or diagnosis).
Website: http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/mcmillen-lab/
Twitter: @DaveMcMillen
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