Women in engineering biology - speaker suggestions for a gender-balanced podium

The list below represents a starting point for encouraging speaker diversity in engineering biology. If you or someone you know should be included on this list, please let us know. We are open to any nominations or self-nominations of women identifying professionals in or related to engineering biology. Also, please contact us if there are any updates to the information below.

Diversity Speakers

First name Last name Institutionsort descending Location Keywords
Emma Frow Arizona State University Edinburgh, England synthetic biology, science & technology studies, engineering studies, standard-setting, design and values
Karmella Haynes-Farrell Arizona State University Tempe, AZ epigenetics, transcription factors, chromatin engineering
Samira Kiana Arizona State University Tempe, AZ synthetic biology, genetic devices, genetic circuits, CRISPR, genetic engineering
Caroline Ajo-Franklin Berkeley Lab Berkeley, CA carbon capture, bio-solar energy generation, electronic materials, mineralization of carbonates, self assembly of S-layer proteins, nanostructure assembly
Linda Kahl BioBricks Foundation Stanford, CA intellectual property, ownership sharing & innovation, law
Natalie Kuldell BioBuilder Foundation Cambridge, MA education, problem-based learning, synthetic biology, K-12
Marilene Pavan Rodrigues Boston University Boston, MA biotechnology, synthetic biology, computational biology
June Medford Colorado State University Fort Collins, CA plant synthetic biology, synthetic biology, signal transduction, biosensors, biofuels
Alicia Jackson Drawbridge Health San Francisco, CA material engineering, nanotechnology, advanced materials, self-healing materials
Arti Rai Duke University Durham, NC intellectual property, policy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals
Caroline Peres DuPont (Genencor) Palo Alto, CA microbial physiology, fermentation engineering, metabolic engineering, molecular biology
Michele Garfinkle EMBO Washington, DC science policy, scientific publishing, stem cell policy, genomic technologies, research integrity
Stephanie Culler Genomatica San Diego, CA metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, sustainable chemical production, applied microbiology, systems biology, RNA splicing, microbiology
Ellen Jorgensen Genspace NYC Brooklyn, NY DIYbio, citizen science, science literacy, synthetic biology, molecular biology
Pamela Peralta-Yahya Georgia Tech Altanta, GA metabolic engineering, chemical synthesis, biosensors, biofuels, alkaloids, microbial synthesis
Christina Agapakis Ginkgo Bioworks Cambridge, MA synthetic biology, microbial ecology, art-science collaboration, science communication
Grace Paradise Givaudan Flavors Cincinnati, OH flavorings, natural products, chemistry, organic chemistry
Jackie Quinn Google San Francisco, CA bioengineering, design languages, computer aided design, computational tools
Joanna Aizenberg Harvard University Cambridge, MA bioinspired materials, slippery surfaces, adaptive hybrid architectures, self-assembly, bionanointerfaces, crystal growth, nanostructured surfaces
Emily Balskus Harvard University Cambridge, MA microbial chemistry, microbial communities, human microbiota, novel enzymes, biocompatible chemistry
Irene Otero-Muras IIM-CSIC Spanish National Research Council 36209 Vigo, Spain computational tools for synthetic biology, automated biorcircuit design, computational systems biology, biochemical networks, optimization
Francesca Ceroni Imperial College London London, England genetic devices, design rules, microRNAs
Jaline Gerardin Intellectual Ventures Seattle, WA biological sciences, biochemistry, biophysics, models, antimalarial drugs, systems biology, computational biology
Radha Krishnakumar Intrexon Corporation Washington, DC synthetic biology, whole genome engineering, DNA assembly, cancer therapy
Anne Osbourn John Innes Centre Norwich, England plant synthetic biology, metabolic pathway engineering
Claire Marris King's College London London, England social studies of science and technology, STS, policy, risk assessment, public decisionmaking
Cosima Dufour-Schroif L'Oreal Île-de-France, France metabolic engineering, pharmaceuticals
Melissa Rhoads Lockheed Martin Washington, DC biological sciences, cell and molecular biology, project management, systems engineering, technical writing, team building
Angela Belcher MIT Cambridge, MA directed evolution, material engineering, hybrid materials, self-assembly, electronic materials, magnetic materials
Domitilla Del Vecchio MIT Cambridge, MA control theory, computational tools, genetic circuits, biological networks, feedback control
Kristala Prather MIT Cambridge, MA metabolic engineering, metabolic flux, bioprocess engineering
Linda Griffith MIT Cambridge, MA systems engineering, tissue engineering, drug development, biomaterials, scaffolds
Suzanne Lee Modern Meadow Brooklyn, NY biomaterials, design, art-science collaboration, sustainability
Betul Kacar NASA Astrobiology Institute and Georgia Tech Boston, MA ancestral sequence reconstruction, experimental evolution, phylogenetics, evolutionary biochemistry, science communication, astrobiology
Sarah Munro NIST Stanford, CA synthetic biology, biomedical measurement science
Kathleen Vogel North Carolina State University Durham, NC policy, biosecurity, defense applications
Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg Royal College of Art, London London, England art-science collaboration, interdisciplinary collaborations, design
Cynthia Collins RPI Troy, NY synthetic biology, quorum sensing, biofilm formation, cell-cell communication, directed evolution
Carolyn Bertozzi Stanford University Stanford, CA bioorthogonal chemistry, glycomics, biochemistry, organic synthesis, biopolymers, cell-cell communication
Megan Palmer Stanford University Stanford, CA biosafety, biosecurity, leadership, science policy
Theresa Good U.S. National Science Foundation Washington, DC synthetic biology, NSF, policy, government, research strategy
Linda Chrisey U.S. Office of Naval Research Arlington, VA biosensors, biomaterials, novel circuits, defense applications
Susan Marqusee UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA protein engineering, protein folding, structural biology, biophysics
Michelle Chang UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA metabolic pathway engineering, biofuels, biochemistry, chemical biology, synthetic biology, pharmaceuticals
Jennifer Doudna UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA CRISPR, translational control, RNAi
Yvonne Chen UCLA Los Angeles, CA synthetic biology, novel circuits, mammalian systems, cell-based cancer therapy, T-cells, cancer therapy
Tanja Kortemme UCSF San Francisco, CA computational biology, computational tools, modeling, protein engineering
Jane Calvert University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, England science and technology studies, sociology of science, philosophy of biology, science policy, engineering studies, synthetic biology, systems biology
Joelle Pelletier University of Montreal Montreal, QB, Canada molecular modeling, enzymology, protein engineering, directed evolution
Maitreya Dunham University of Washington Seattle, WA genome evolution, experimental evolution, yeast, comparative genomics
Outi Koivistoinen VTT Technology for Business Espoo, Finland biotechnology, microbiology, molecular biology, bio-based chemicals, biopolymers