AGILE BIOFOUNDRY - Key Persons
Alastair Robinson works in the Biosciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), where he serves as Program Manager for the Agile BioFoundry. Alastair co-leads management and integration of the overall ABF project, coordinating activities across the major tasks for the consortium. Alastair is also a Researcher and Program Manager in Berkeley Lab's Building Technology and Urban Systems Division.
Job Titles:
- R & D Manager of the Molecular and Microbiology
Amanda Barry is R&D Manager of the Molecular and Microbiology Department at Sandia National Laboratories. From 2016-2020, she served as Technical Lead and Subject Matter Expert for the DOE Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Verification Team on both Algae and Conversion FOA-awarded projects. From 2015-2017, Amanda served at BETO as a Technology Development Manager on an Interpersonnel Assignment. Her BETO-funded research focuses on algal biology and biochemistry with a current emphasis on mixotrophic growth on plant substrates. She received her Ph.D. from Oregon Health & Science University in 2007.
Job Titles:
- Process Research Engineer in NREL 's Economic Sustainability & Market Analysis
Bruno Klein is a process research engineer in NREL's Economic Sustainability & Market Analysis group. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Campinas (Brazil) in 2018. At NREL, he develops techno-economic assessments (TEA) linked to biochemical conversion pathways of lignocellulosic sugars (both fermentative and catalytic conversion strategies) as well as to algal biomass production and conversion to fuels and coproducts in novel biorefinery concepts. Within the Agile BioFoundry, he is involved in TEA modeling and process design to identify economic opportunities and key drivers for bioconversion pathways of interest.
Christopher W. Johnson is a Senior Scientist at NREL. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, in 2011. His work at NREL uses synthetic biology to engineer microbes to convert renewable feedstocks such as lignin and formate into value-added chemicals, and materials. In the Agile BioFoundry, Christopher co-leads the Industry Engagement and Outreach team and is involved in the Pseudomonas putida KT2440 DBTL efforts.
Job Titles:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Job Titles:
- Director of DOE 's Advanced Biofuels & Bioproducts Process Development Unit
Deepti Tanjore is the Director of DOE's Advanced Biofuels & Bioproducts Process Development Unit (ABPDU) and is the Interim Department Head for Process Engineering & Analytics in Berkeley Lab's Biological Systems & Engineering Division. She received her PhD in Biological Engineering from Penn State University in 2009. At Berkeley Lab, she leads the ABPDU team in its collaborative projects with Industry, academic and National Lab partners for the optimization, development and pilot prototyping of manufacturing process for biofuels, bio-based chemicals, biomaterials and proteins such as food ingredients and industrial enzymes. Deepti is the Process Integration and Scaling Task Co-Lead for the Agile BioFoundry and the PI for the ABPDU.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Biological Systems
Dr. Blake Simmons is the Director of the Biological Systems and Engineering Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Tulane University in 2001. Prior to joining Berkeley Lab in 2016 he was at Sandia National Laboratories for 15 years. He currently serves as the Chief Science and Technology Officer and Vice-President of the Deconstruction Division at the Joint BioEnergy Institute, a DOE Office of Science funded project tasked with the development and realization of next-generation "drop-in" biofuels and bioadvantaged bioproducts produced from the conversion of sustainable, non-food lignocellulosic biomass. He is the Project Management Task Lead for the Agile BioFoundry.
Job Titles:
- Public Affairs Specialist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Emily Nelson is a public affairs specialist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She manages communications for the Agile BioFoundry.
Job Titles:
- Group Leader at the National Renewable Energy
Gregg T. Beckham is a Group Leader at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT in 2007. He currently leads and works with an interdisciplinary team of biologists, chemists, and engineers at NREL on conversion of biomass to fuels, chemicals, and materials including in metabolic engineering, fermentation, separations, catalysis, biopolymer and carbon fiber production, and lignin and waste valorization. In the Agile BioFoundry, Gregg leads the Integration and Scaling Task and is a lead of the Pseudomonas putida KT2440 DBTL efforts.
Hector Garcia Martin is a Berkeley Lab scientist working in the intersection of synthetic biology, machine learning, automation. He received his Ph. D. in theoretical physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the direction of Nigel Goldenfeld. At Berkeley lab, he leads the quantitative metabolic modeling group and develops methods to make bioengineering a predictable discipline. He has developed machine learning algorithms as well as mechanistic models to systematically guide the bioengineering process.
James Gardner works in the Biosciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), where he serves as Program Manager for the Agile BioFoundry. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Florida in 1999. In his capacity with the Agile BioFoundry, James helps manage ongoing collaborations with outside groups, oversees the Agile BioFoundry's directed funding opportunities, and works more broadly with teams to raise the visibility of the Agile BioFoundry within the synthetic biology community. James also provides managerial support to Berkeley Lab's Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Development Unit as well as the Biological Systems and Engineering Division.
Job Titles:
- Principal Member of the Technical
John Gladden is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff at NTESS. He received his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley in 2005 and has almost 20 years of experience in the field. Since 2008 John has focused on developing technologies for the conversion of lignocellulose into biofuels and bioproducts. He has lead interdisciplinary teams of biologists, computer scientists, and chemical engineers, both at Sandia and in partnership with other National Labs, to advance the state of the art in areas of biomass pretreatment and enzymatic depolymerization, sugar and lignin catabolism, and metabolic engineering of non-model organisms to convert depolymerize lignocellulose into biofuels and bioproducts. In the Agile Biofoundry, John co-leads the DBTL Task and is lead of the Rhodosporidium toruloides DBTL efforts.
Jon Magnuson is a biochemist with more than 30 years of research experience studying enzymes and metabolic pathways in bacteria and fungi. He is working on utilizing filamentous fungi in the development of processes for converting renewable biomass to fuels, chemicals and enzymes. This research involves the discovery and manipulation of genes encoding the enzymes of biosynthetic pathways, the regulation of those pathways and associated processes, and transport of metabolites and products across compartments and secretion form the cell. Complementary to this work is his interest in fungal genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and modeling for more efficient identification of genetic targets and foundational understanding of fungal systems under the stress of producing high concentrations of desirable biofuels or bioproducts.
Katy Christiansen works in the Biosciences Area at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), where she manages strategic planning and program development activities. She also serves as Berkeley Lab's Laboratory Relationship Manager (LRM) to DOE's Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO). She has managed a variety of key program development activities, including the initial planning and establishment activities for the Agile BioFoundry. As the BETO LRM, she manages Berkeley Lab's portfolio of BETO-funded research and provides strategic and technical input on behalf of Berkeley Lab.
Job Titles:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Job Titles:
- Senior Scientist and Team Lead at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory
Kristin E. Burnum-Johnson is a Senior Scientist and Team Lead at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy user facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Kristin earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Vanderbilt University with Richard M. Caprioli in 2008, and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at PNNL with Richard D. Smith. At PNNL, her research is dedicated to characterizing the molecular landscape of heterogeneous samples using novel mass spectrometry approaches to address specific biological, medical, and environmental research questions. These approaches involve multi-dimensional liquid chromatography and ion mobility separations in conjunction with mass spectrometry to measure proteins, lipids, and metabolites. In the Agile BioFoundry, Kristin directs Test tasks to support DBTL efforts.
Job Titles:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Job Titles:
- Department Head of BioDesign at Berkeley Lab
Nathan J. Hillson is the Department Head of BioDesign at Berkeley Lab. He received his PhD in Biophysics from Harvard Medical School in 2004. At Berkeley Lab, he currently leads the continuous development and maintenance of synthetic biology software infrastructure and the operation of DIVA DNA construction and sequence validation services. Nathan is the Principal Investigator of the Agile BioFoundry and leads its Integrated Design-Build-Test-Learn Task.
Taraka Dale is a Scientist and Principal Investigator in Bioscience Division at LANL. She is a biochemist, with expertise in the design and development of mid- to high throughput assays for applications ranging from nucleic acid:protein interactions to exploring algae and other microorganisms as platforms for making cost effective biofuels and bioproducts. In algae, Dr. Dale's team is improving the productivity and environmental tolerance of microalgae strains, with an effort towards translating these results to outdoor cultivation. Within the Agile BioFoundry, Dr. Dale leads a team focused on the development and application of high throughput tools for optimizing metabolic flux towards new target molecules.