Dr Constance Bailey is a Senior Lecturer and group leader in the School of Chemistry where her research focuses on the biosynthesis of microbial secondary metabolites and development of tools to improve synthetic biology design of pathways that generate complex secondary metabolites. She completed her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin investigating the enzymology and biocatalytic applications of polyketide synthases and pursued a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Joint BioEnergy Institute where she investigated bioengineering and synthetic biology applications of microbial secondary metabolism to generate bioproducts. Prior to starting at the University of Sydney, she was an Assistant Professor of Chemistry with an affiliate position in the Graduate School of Genome Science and Technology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Pierrick is a Senior Lecturer and DECRA Fellow at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. He specialises in philosophy of biology. He leads the Theory and Method in Biosciences group at Macquarie University.

From 2017 to 2020 Pierrick was a Macquarie University Research Fellow. He completed a PhD in philosophy of biology at the University of Sydney in 2015.

His work focuses on core concepts of evolutionary theory, such as fitness and heritability, as well as evolutionary transitions in individuality and causation. His other interests include the interplay between biological and cultural evolution and the evolution of religious beliefs.

Dr Joe Brock leads the membrane structural and synthetic biology research group at the Australian National University (ANU). After earning his PhD in Biological Chemistry from ANU in 2012, he did postdoctoral research at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, focusing on the structure of human membrane proteins. He further honed his skills in cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and biophysical assays at Stockholm University working on transporters. Since 2019, Dr. Brock has been a tenure-track lecturer at ANU, using cryo-EM to study membrane proteins from human pathogens. During the COVID-19 pandemic he diversified his research to include yeast synthetic biology and his laboratory is now also working on building modular nanobody platforms, engineering protein secretion systems, and developing novel biosensors. Dr. Brock collaborates with industry partners like Samsara Eco and Nourish Ingredients. He is passionate about education and is a founding organiser of the Australasian Synbio Challenge, which fosters competition and collaboration among undergraduate students.

Amy K. Cain is an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor of Molecular Biology in the School of Natural Sciences Macquarie University, Sydney. She has worked in academic groups, hospital labs and in the pharmaceutical industry across Australia, Cambridge and Oxford in the UK, Malawi (sub-Saharan Africa), and Boston (USA). Her current research focuses on developing new-to-nature antibiotics and uncovering bacterial stress response systems in hospital pathogens using functional genomic techniques and developing plastic eating microbes. She is the founder and Director of the Galleria Research Facility, an ethical and cost-effective in vivo model for testing pathogenicity of microbes, and toxicity and efficacy of new drugs.

Dr Andrew Care is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His research team creatively blends synthetic biology and nanomedicine, which includes bioengineering natural protein nanoparticles in therapeutic tools for the treatment of disease (e.g., drug delivery and vaccines). Andrew is also the Academic Director of the GMP-Lite Biologics Innovation Facility (BIF), a key component of the NSW biomanufacturing ecosystem. The BIF offers practical training in upstream/downstream bioprocessing, and equipment/expertise to help researchers and industry upscale production of their biotechnologies e.g., vaccines, antibodies, cell therapies, viral vectors.

BIF: https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-science/biologics-innovation-facility  

Dr Nick Coleman is a Research Fellow in the Australian Genome Foundry (AGF) at Macquarie University, and an Associate Investigator in the CoESB. Nick did his PhD research at the University of Sydney (USyd, 1996-2000), studying explosives-degrading bacteria. He then worked as a postdoc with the US Air Force (2001-2003), isolating and characterising bacteria that metabolise chlorinated ethenes. He switched focus for a second postdoc (USyd, 2004-2006) to study integrons and antibiotic resistance. From 2006-2023, he was a teaching and research academic at USyd, working in diverse areas of environmental and molecular microbiology, including bioremediation, biocatalysis, biosensors, and mobile genetic elements. Nick supervised iGEM teams at USyd from 2013-2022; this sparked a passion for synthetic biology and open-source science which continues to underpin his current work in the AGF.

Dr Zhenling Cui is a research associate at the Queensland University of Technology, focusing on developing selective protein binding domains for biosensor construction. She advances in vitro evolution platforms, particularly mRNA display, to rapidly select binding domains from extensive libraries based on hyper-stable monobodies (FN3con), nanobodies (VHH), and anticalins. Before joining QUT in 2018, she completed her PhD in Chemical and Biological Sciences in 2016 and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Queensland. There, she exploited genetic code redundancy to hijack protein translation machinery for site-selective incorporation of non-natural amino acids, involving the synthesis and manipulation of transfer RNAs to generate proteins with bio-orthogonal handles for various applications.

Jacqueline Dalziell is a Lecturer in the School of the History and Philosophy of Science, at the University of Sydney. Previously, she held postdoctoral positions at UNSW (Environmental Humanities) and Macquarie University (Philosophy) before joining the University of Sydney in 2023. Jacqueline’s scholarship merges contemporary critical theory (STS, feminist) with perspectives from classical social theory (philosophy, psychoanalysis). Her research has been published in journals such as Australian Feminist Studies and the Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy.

Dr Gustavo De Cerqueira is an industry member running BiomeMega, which uses bacteria and fungi to either discover or develop innovative food and medicinal ingredients for nutraceutical, cosmetic and pharmaceutical companies. Academically, Gustavo has previously held a lecturer position in Microbiology and Immunology at JCU-Townsville, and he encompasses postdoc experiences at Monash University, University of Connecticut Health Center, University of Sydney and the Butantan Institute. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology jointly conducted at the Pasteur Institute (Paris) and the Federal University of Pelotas, and a Masters in Agricultural Biotechnology.

Dr Birgitta Ebert is a Senior Research Fellow and Group Leader at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, University of Queensland. Her expertise is in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, focusing on the use of microbial catalysts for fermentation-based production of chemicals and materials. She has a background in chemical engineering and a PhD in systems biotechnology from TU Dortmund University. Through her work as a research group leader at RWTH Aachen University and as a visiting scientist at the Joint BioEnergy Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, she expanded her expertise in systems metabolic engineering.

Since 2019, Dr Ebert has been applying her expertise at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, developing microbial cell factories for sustainable chemical and material production. Her work aims to combine chemical and biological methods to convert renewable resources and waste into useful products, reducing reliance on petrochemicals and increasing the sustainability and efficiency of biomanufacturing.

Elizabeth Gillam graduated with Hons in Biochemistry and a University Medal at the University of Queensland then completed a D. Phil at Oxford University (UK). In postdoctoral training at Vanderbilt University, she established many of the first bacterial expression systems for major drug metabolizing P450s. Elizabeth is now a Professor of Biochemistry at UQ where her research focuses on engineering P450s as biocatalysts for drug development, fine chemical synthesis and plant biotechnology. The Gillam group has developed methods to efficiently engineer P450s, most recently by ancestral sequence reconstruction, and has devised small, targeted libraries of stable, solvent-tolerant and versatile enzymes as off-the-shelf reagents for the pharmaceutical industry. Current research involves applying synthetic biology approaches to expand the range of chemistries that can be catalysed using engineered enzymes and to improve P450 systems for biocatalysis, e.g. by immobilising P450s in virus-like particles and linking them to photosynthesis.

Dr Zhong Guo has worked as senior research associate at Faculty of Science, Queensland University of Technology since 2019. His research is focusing on developing enzyme-based biosensor by protein rational design. He completed his Ph.D at the Department of Physical Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) in Germany. After that he continued in a postdoctoral position at MPI until October 2010. Then he relocated to Australia and continued his research career at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland till 2018.

Karl has held research fellowships at University of Newcastle (UON) (ARC Future Fellowship), the University of Leeds, UK (MSC Fellow), and Macquarie University (ARC Postdoctoral Fellow). Karl is molecular microbiologist with expertise in functional genomics and protein biochemistry/biophysics. Karl’s research broadly examines mechanisms of small molecule transport in bacteria, the physiology of bacterial cell envelopes and bacterial global regulatory networks. Karl has current research projects investigating antimicrobial drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria, microbial metal ion homeostasis, plant pathogen suppression by biocontrol bacteria and tools for exploiting bacteria in the production of high-value chemicals.

Dr Paul Jaschke completed a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of British Columbia, followed by an NSERC-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University. While at Stanford, Dr Jaschke developed novel methods to engineering bacteriophage in yeast and created the first phage with all overlapping genes “decompressed”. His lab is now working on a range of topics in synthetic biology, including deciphering the initiator tRNA identity landscape, creating new phage display methods, improving phage for therapeutic use against uropathogenic E. coli, and using next-generation CRISPR methods to engineer T4 and T7 phage to kill slow-growing persistent infections.

Dr Anna-Sophie Jürgens from ANU is a scholar of culture – pop culture, popular entertainment, performance and fiction – who investigates the cultural meanings of science. She has exciting plans for exploring non-threatening visions and fascinating cultural narratives of our synbiological future through film, comics, humour and other means. Anna- Sophie leads the Popsicule – ANU’s Science in Popular Culture and Entertainment Hub.

Dr Yu Heng Lau is a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Sydney, Australia.

Yu Heng completed a PhD in chemical biology at the University of Cambridge, where he developed chemical methods for manipulating peptide structure. He subsequently moved to Harvard Medical School as a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow in synthetic biology, where he established new synthetic methods for reprogramming microbial genomes.

His current research program spans the fields of medicinal chemistry and protein engineering, with the aim of creating new biocatalysts, materials, and medicines.

Professor Joan Leach has been the Director of Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS), Australian National University since 2016. Her research and teaching centres on theories of the public in science communication, language and rhetoric in science (both in public and in technical contexts), and the challenge of ethics in science communication. Joan is a past president of Australian Science Communicators, a founding member of the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology, and past Chair of the National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science at the Australian Academy of Science.

Dr Briardo Llorente is the Chief Scientist of the Australian Genome Foundry and a group leader at Macquarie University’s School of Natural Sciences. Briardo is interested in solving big problems using synthetic biology while developing technologies to expand the boundaries of genomic, metabolic, and intercellular engineering. His group pursues eclectic research, from re-engineering symbiosis to enhancing biomanufacturing and developing better crops and medicines. As Chief Scientist of the Australian Genome Foundry, Briardo oversees the strategic vision and development of the foundry. Before joining the Centre, Briardo held a position as a CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Fellow at Macquarie University. He was also a Marie Curie Fellow and a Juan de la Cierva Fellow at Barcelona’s CRAG Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics. Briardo completed his PhD at the University of Buenos Aires and worked as a visiting researcher at the University of Aarhus in Denmark and the Salk Institute in California.

Dr Ben Long is a senior lecturer in Molecular Plant Physiology at the University of Newcastle. He earned his PhD from La Trobe University, where he conducted research on cyanobacterial toxin production. Following this, he pursued a postdoctoral position at the University of Surrey (UK), focusing on antibiotic production in bioreactor culture systems. Returning to Australia, he joined ANU, where he refocussed his research efforts to understanding the CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) of cyanobacteria. At Newcastle, Dr Long’s research focuses on investigating novel protein systems generated through directed evolution, as well as employing high throughput DNA assembly approaches to construct complex synthetic CCMs in plant chloroplasts for enhanced CO2 capture.

He has been a member of the international Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) research consortium and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, developing methodologies to utilize CCM components for improving crop yield. Prior to his role at Newcastle, Dr Long was selected as a STEM leader for the inaugural NAVIGATE Program at Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group.

Dr Maciej Maselko is a Research Group Leader in Applied BioSciences at Macquarie University. His lab is developing synthetic biology technologies in various non-model animal systems including mosquitoes, black soldier flies, and cane toads. These technologies have applications in genetic biocontrol of invasive species, bioremediation, biomanufacturing, sustainable waste management, accelerated adaptation, and transgene biocontainment.

Maciej received a BS in Biology from the University of Alaska, Anchorage and a PhD in Molecular Biology from Oregon State University where he studied HIV-1 and RSV. His postdoctoral training includes a USDA-NIFA fellowship and research at the University of Minnesota with a focus on agricultural biotechnologies and genetic biocontrol.

Maciej is also the co-founder of two startup companies. EntoZyme PTY, Ltd is a Macquarie University spinout developing black soldier flies as a synbio platform for sustainable biomanufacturing. NovoClade, Inc. is based in Minneapolis and is working on genetic biocontrol for spotted wing drosophila – an invasive agricultural pest.

Dr Matthews is a creative industries expert who is passionate about the power in transdisciplinary teams. He specialises in working with STEM-based research to achieve real world outcomes, translating innovative science into impact through human-centred design. He is a Senior Lecturer in Design and Communication at the University of Newcastle where he focuses on emerging technology and entrepreneurship in the creative industries and has more than 15 years of experience in transdisciplinary roles in creative marketing as a brand strategist and producer of digital media.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminjamesmatthews/

Professor Andrew McGregor is the Director of Research and Innovation in the Macquarie School of Social Sciences. He completed his PhD in human geography at the University of Sydney before working for UNICEF Australia on aid and development projects primarily in Asia. He has worked for the University of Otago and Victoria University of Wellington before moving to Macquarie University in 2012. He has had a range of leadership roles including Director of the Graduate School of the Environment and Acting Head of the Department of Geography and Planning. His research focuses on the nexus of science, environment and society with a particular interest in novel protein development and food systems transitions.

Andrew.mcgregor@mq.edu.au

Dr Laura Navone is a Synthetic Biologist with expertise in the areas of protein production and precision fermentation. Laura started her career at Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Argentina, completing her integrated Bachelors and Masters degree in biotechnology, followed by a PhD in metabolic engineering at Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology. In 2014, Laura moved to Australia to undertake postdoctoral research at The University of Queensland and later at Queensland University of Technology. Laura has lead research on recombinant protein production, enzyme technologies, functionalisation of textiles, biosensors and other synthetic biology tools. Her research has provided important outcomes for Australian industries. Laura is now R&D Director at Eden Brew, developing and managing scientific programs towards delicious animal-free-dairy to meet the food protein global demand.

Dr Leanne Pearson is a Senior Research Associate within the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Her research is focused on the ecological significance and industrial potential of microbial natural products, including toxins, anaesthetics, antibiotics, and sunscreens. Because many natural product producers are difficult to culture and manipulate in the lab, a synthetic biology approach is often necessary to unlock their biochemical potential. This emerging field involves mining microbial genomes for biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs), characterising the pathways encoded therein, and manipulating and over-expressing these pathways in industrial hosts to produce novel high value bioproducts.

Dr Tara Richman is an NHMRC EL1/Australian Mitochondrial Disease Foundation Senior Fellow at the University of Western Australia, and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Science and she holds an Adjunct appointment at the Telethon Kids Institute. Dr Richman completed her PhD in 2014 at the University of Western Australia with a focus on mitochondrial gene expression and disease models of mitochondrial dysfunction. Her current interests are in mitochondrial biology in particular developing CRISPR models of energy dysfunction, with a focus on platelet and megakaryocyte structure and function and using synthetic biology to rewire energy metabolism in different systems. She is an expert in focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) and applies it to study cellular networks and orthogonal cellular systems.

Dr Veronica is an Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow, under the supervision of Associate Professor Esteban Marcellin and Professor Lars Nielsen. She received her Biotechnology Engineering degree at the University of Chile in 2007 and completed her Ph.D. in Systems Biology at The University of Queensland in 2014. After completing her Ph.D. she performed 2 years of postdoctoral training at The University of Queensland, as part of a collaboration project with Universidad de Chile. Both Ph.D. studies and postdoctoral training were financially supported by the Chilean Government, under a competitive scholarship and fellowship, respectively. Later she worked as Postdoctoral Research Fellow- Biopharmaceutical Upstream Bioprocessing at the ARC Training Centre for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (CBI), The University of Queensland. Her research focuses on the use of synthetic and system biology for the improvement of protein production using mammalian cells. Her current project focuses on the development of a platform to generate good producer cell factories of difficult-to-express proteins.

Email: v.salazar@uq.edu.au

Dr Frank Sainsbury is a research leader in physical virology at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University. His research group is primarily interested in virus capsids, pushing the boundaries of how they assemble and what can be learned from using them as biochemical reaction vessels and delivery vehicles. Dr Sainsbury trained as a plant virologist at the John Innes Centre in the UK. His work there included the invention of protein expression systems in plants that have supported Phase III clinical trials of influenza vaccine candidates and led to a major UK innovation award. Since returning to Australia to take up an ARC DECRA Fellowship at UQ in 2014, he has developed a program of research into the assembly, engineering, and uses of virus-like particles. He was since awarded a CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform Fellowship to explore the directed assembly of virus coat proteins into protein cages with non-natural geometries. In 2023, he was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship to use a synthetic virology approach to evolving virus capsids for applied uses in agriculture and health.

Dr Bhumika Shah is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Natural Sciences at Macquarie University. Her research focuses on understanding and engineering the functions of membrane transporters. These transporters play a crucial role in importing and exporting molecules across cell membranes, playing a key role in stress adaptation and have significant potential in various industrial biomanufacturing applications. Dr Shah completed her PhD in the Structure Biology Laboratory at Macquarie University, where she investigated the functions of uncharacterised proteins in genomic islands and their role in stress adaptation, including antibiotic resistance and virulence.

Dr Stefan Siira is a Senior Research Officer at Telethons Kids Institute, an Associate Investigator in the Mitochondrial Multi-Disciplinary Team (MitoMDT) and holds Adjunct Research Fellow appointments at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia. He completed a bachelor’s degree with Honours in Biochemistry followed by a PhD in Medicine at the University of Western Australia in 2017 focused on bioinformatic analysis of mitochondrial gene expression. Stefan’s expertise is in developing custom approaches for multiomic analyses, particularly focused on genomic and transcriptomic datasets. His research interests are in editing and analysing nuclear and mitochondrial gene expression using newly designed CRISPR systems and bespoke nucleic-acid binding proteins. In addition, Stefan has played a pivotal role in the understanding of the mitochondrial transcriptome and he uses synthetic biology approaches to edit the yeast and mammalian mitochondrial genomes.

Jon teaches international relations and public policy in the Macquarie School of Social Sciences. He is a specialist in global environmental politics and climate policy. Some of Jon’s recent work seeks to identify policy settings that will allow the field of synthetic biology to fulfil its prospective role in climate mitigation through measures that will also facilitate international deliberation on desirable futures. Jon’s most recent book ‘Ecomodernism:

Technology, Politics and Climate Crisis’ (Polity, 2019) explores the argument for increased state investment in low-carbon innovation. Prior to joining Macquarie University (July 2013)

Jon was a Lecturer at La Trobe University, Melbourne and before that an Assistant Professor at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He received his PhD from the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne in December 2007.

Denys Villa-Gomez holds a joint appointment at the University of Queensland as Senior Lecturer at the School of Civil Engineering and a Research Fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. She leads projects on the recovery of critical elements from mine-impacted waters and tailings using bioprocesses, such as project with Rio Tinto using synthetic biology to recover critical minerals. She is the leader of the key area “Synbio Mining” within the recently created UQ Biosustainability Hub and chief investigator at the ARC Training Centre in Critical Resources for the Future.

Anna is a Scientia Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at UNSW. Before this, she did a PhD in Applied Physics at Harvard University and a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowship in Astrobiology. She and her team are interested in understanding how life started on Earth. More specifically, they work on how the processes of self-assembly can be harnessed to help aid the transition between chemistry and biology. They are funded via the Human Frontier of Science Program, Sloan Foundation, Moore Foundation, Moderna, and the Australian Research Council. Anna is also Assistant Director of the Australian Centre of Astrobiology.