2^nd International Conference on Systems and Synthetic Biology August 18-20, 2016 London, UK

Professor Krams holds a Chair in Molecular Bioengineering at Imperial College, London. Prior to joining Imperial College he worked as Associate Professor in the department Bioengineering, Thoraxcentre Rotterdam, the Netherlands and as associate professor/chair in the department of Medical Physics, Free University in Amsterdam. He received his Medical Degree and Ph.D. from the Free University, Amsterdam in 1989.

His research is focussed on the molecular mechanism underlying biomechanical stimuli. To that end he uses a combination of engineering techniques (imaging, systems biology and synthetic biology) and molecular techniques (high throughput, qPCR, life cell imaging) to study the interaction of gene expression and shear stress and wall stress on cells in culture and in whole animals.

Anthony C. Forster (Ph.D. Biochem., U. Adelaide; M.D., Harvard U.) researches RNA, protein synthesis and applications thereof (synthetic biology). He discovered the hammerhead catalytic RNA structure, invented external guide sequences for ribonuclease P, and created unnatural genetic codes de novo, all of which founded biotech companies. He has published in journals including Cell, Nature and Science, edited volumes of Methods and Biotechnology J., and coauthored "Synthetic Biology: A Lab Manual."

Synthetic biology, protein synthesis and drug discovery SynBio is a creative new field defined as the complex engineering of replicating systems. It encompasses next-generation technology for bioengineering and fresh approaches to global challenges such as drug discovery and biofuels. Our current projects include: 1. Improving ribosomal incorporation of unnatural amino acids for investigating translation mechanism and for applications such as directed evolution of peptidomimetic drugs. 2. Metagenomic discovery of antibiotic resistance genes in humans, and overcoming resistance by antisense bacteriophage therapy. 3. Development of chromoproteins for biosensor diagnostics. 4. Simplifying the design and assembly of large genetic pathways and systems. 5. Determining functions of ribosomal RNA modifications towards synthesis of the ribosome, self-replication and a minimal cell.

Taosheng Chen completed his Ph.D. from the University of Vermont, and postdoctoral studies from the University of Virginia. He is an Associate Member (Associate Professor) and Director of the High Throughput Bioscience Center at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Prior to joining St Jude, Taosheng was a Senior Research Investigator at Bristol-Myers Squibb, and a Research Scientist at SAIC-Frederick, National Cancer Institute. Taosheng serves on the Editorial Boards of several journals, and on NIH Grant Review Panels. He has authored more than 80 publications. His research laboratory studies the roles of nuclear receptors in therapeutic efficacy and toxic effects

His research is focussed on Regulation of PXR and CAR in drug toxicity, drug resistance and human diseases, Regulation of PAX3-FOXO1 and muscle differentiation in the development of rhabdomyosarcoma, Development of drug discovery technologies and High throughput screening (HTS) and high content screening (HCS)

Mr. Arata Katayama has completed his PhD at the age of 28 years from Tokyo Institute of Technology, and worked as postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Institute of Toxic Substances Research. Now, he teaches Sanitary Engineering for undergraduate course and Ecotoxicology for graduate course as a professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nagoya University. He also serves many governmental committees on environmental pollution, polychlorinated biphenyl remediation, and monitoring of environmental quality.

Design of artificial anaerobic microbial community for bioremediation

Dr. Mu has completed his PhD from Gunma University/Japan and postdoctoral studies at Kyoto University, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh. He is the board certified toxicologist and a researcher at the FDA. He has published more than 25 papers in reputed journals and is interested in the development of biomarkers for allergic risk assessment.

He is interested in the development of biomarkers for allergic risk assessment.

Dr Oscar Ces is a Reader at the Department of Chemistry and is co-chair of the Institute of Chemical Biology (ICB), director of the ICB Centre for Doctoral Training and co-director of the Membrane Biophysics Platform.

His expertise lies in soft condensed matter and membrane biophysics, artificial cells, bottom-up synthetic biology, membrane-protein interactions, biomembrane mechanics, drug-membrane interactions, single-cell analysis using microfluidic technologies and biomimetic-microfluidic systems.

Roberto Mazzoli has completed his PhD in 2003 and, since 2011, has been assistant professor in biochemistry at the University of Turin (Italy). Since 1998, he has been studying the metabolism of microorganisms aimed at industrial processes. Since 2006, his main research activity has concerned metabolic engineering of microorganisms for cellulosic consolidated biorefinery. He’s the PI of the group of Proteomics and Metabolic Engineering of Prokaryotes at DBIOS, University of Turin. He has published 21 papers in peer-reviewed international journals, 1 book chapter and 2 international patents and is serving as editorial board member or reviewer for several reputed journals.

Research focus is mainly on engineering of recombinant cellulolytic microorganisms for application in single-step fermentation (consolidated bioprocessing) of cellulosic biomass into industrially relevant products (e.g. fuels, plastic monomers). Metabolic engineering strategies used include both: i) native cellulolytic strategies, aimed at improving product formation properties in native cellulolytic microorganisms; ii) recombinant cellulolytic strategies, aimed at conferring cellulose metabolization features in microorganisms naturally producing high-value compounds (ethanol, butanol, lactic acid, etc…).

Enrica Pessione, PhD in Microbiology, studied at “Institute Pasteur”, Paris, to complete her knowledge on both systematic bacteriology and microbial immunology. She has been a researcher in Microbial Biochemistry at Turin University getting expertize in enzymology, metabolic biochemistry and microbial proteomics. Since 2004, she is associate professor in biochemistry and member of the Italian Microbial Bio-technologies Association. She focused her interest on metabolic pathways important for food safety control or for establish the probiotic potential of Lactic acid bacteria. She has published over 80 scientific articles. She is in the editorial board of Journal of Integrated Omics.

She focused her interest on metabolic pathways important for food safety control or for establish the probiotic potential of Lactic acid bacteria. She has published over 80 scientific articles. She is in the editorial board of Journal of Integrated Omics.

Dr. Brumbley completed his PhD at the University of Georgia in 1992 and postdoctoral studies at the University of California Riverside in 1993. He worked in the Australian Sugarcane Industry from 1993 to 2006 and at the University of Queensland’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology for 2006 to 2011. He is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Plant Metabolic Engineering at the University of North Texas. He has published more than 50 papers in high impact journals.

His primary research interests are in plant metabolic engineering for production of bio-based chemicals.

Vsevolod V. (Seva) Gurevich has completed his PhD in 1989 from Shemyakin Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, Russia, and postdoctoral training (1991-5) in the laboratory of Dr. J.L. Benovic, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA. He is Professor of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. He has published more than 160 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of several journals.

His works revolved around structural basis of the function of arrestin proteins. Arrestins bind activated phosphorylated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), shutting down their signaling via G proteins (desensitization), targeting receptors for internalization, and redirecting the signaling to numerous alternative pathways,including mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases. He is focus on the structural basis and fine molecular mechanisms of arrestin interactions with GPCRs and non-receptor signaling proteins, with the ultimate goal of constructing designer arrestins that link the receptor we want to signaling pathways of our choosing. These tools will enable us to tell the cell what to do in a language it cannot disobey.

Makobetsa Khati is Head of the Emerging Health Technologies Department at CSIR Biosciences. He is also an Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. Makobetsa holds several degrees including a Master’s in Molecular Medicine from the Imperial College London, a Master of Public Health from the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, and a Doctorate in Molecular Pathology from the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford.

His capabilities in the EHT platform currently includes molecular and cell biology, microbiology (virology and bacteriology); Resyn and aptamer technology, synthetic and systems biology, engineering as well as general management. These capabilities are currently fulfilled by the Technology Platform Manager, Laboratory Manager and systems developer.

Ravi Birla has completed his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is currently with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Houston, where he also serves as Director of the Artificial Heart Laboratory. His research is in Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering and he has published over 40 peer reviewed scientific papers and also a recent textbook in the area.

Birla’s research focuses on the creation of 3D cardiovascular constructs, including bioengineering 3D cardiac patches, using stem cells to support the formation of cardiovascular tissue construct, developing cell based cardiac pumps, and developing scaffold-free technology to support 3D heart muscle formation.