Schedule

THURSDAY JANUARY 8th

3:00 pm: Welcome remarks: Keith Kozminski, UVA and Sam Schaffter, NIST

Session 1: New to the Mid-Atlantic

3:05 pm: Session Chair: Bill Bentley, UMD

3:10 pm: David Glass, Stony Brook
Talk title: Engineering synthetic multicellularity for understanding consortia and tissue behavior

3:30 pm: David Garcia, UMBC
Talk title: Leveraging cell-free synthetic biology and AI for point-of-care diagnostics, biomanufacturing, and materials

3:50 pm: Tara Deans, Georgia Tech
Talk title: Harnessing synthetic biology for next-generation therapeutics

4:10 pm: Emma Chory, Duke
Talk title: Navigating the Evolution Multiverse: A real-time platform for tracking evolution outcomes

4:30 pm: Coffee break

Session 2: Cell-free expression systems

4:45 pm: Session Chair: Mark Styczynski, Georgia Tech

4:50 pm: Fernanda Piorino, NIST
Talk title: Cell-free systems for measuring, building, and screening biology

5:10 pm: Pamela Peralta-Yahya, Georgia Tech
Talk title: From C1 feedstock to value-added chemicals using cell free expression-based biocatalysts

5:30  pm: Widianti Sugianto, UMD
Talk title: Integrating cell-free systems with biomaterials for enhanced chemical bioproduction

5:50 pm: Casey Bernhards, DEVCOM
Talk title: Low Burden Sensors for In-Field Detection of Water Contaminants

6:15 pm: Reception and poster session

FRIDAY JANUARY 9th

9:00 am: Welcome and Speaker introduction: Ed Eisenstein and Bill Bentley, UMD

9:05 am: Keynote address: Matthew DeLisa, Cornell
Adventures in synthetic glycobiology: designing glycosylation for better biologics

9:50 am: Coffee break

Session 3: Engineering Living Materials

10:00 am: Session Chair: Sara Molinari, UMD

10:05 am: Fuzhong Zhang, WashU
Talk title: Synthetic Biology for Protein-based Materials

10:25 am: Anna Duraj-Thatte, Virginia Tech
Talk title: TBD

10:45 am: Linchong You, Duke
Talk title: Predictive engineering of self-organized patterns

11:05 am: Anne Meyer, University of Rochester
Talk title: Self-assembled, living bacterial microlenses with tunable light-focusing behavior

11:25 am: Lunch and poster session 2

Session 4: Synthetic Biology for Agriculture and the Environment

1:00 pm: Session Chair: Scott Lenaghan, Tennessee

1:05 pm: Mike Timko, UVA
Talk title: Approaches to the development of plant biosensors for environmental monitoring

1:25 pm: Alex Pfotenhauer, Tennessee
Talk title: Engineering Encapsidated TRV1 as a Complete VIGS Platform

1:45 pm: Anne Simon, UMD
Talk title: Virus Vectors as Delivery Vehicles for Peptides and siRNAs: The Future of Crop Protection?

2:05 pm: Anna Yaschenko, NC State
Talk title: Design principles of synthetic promoters: Insights into promoter grammar for predictable gene expression in plants

2:25 pm: Hannah Parks, Applied Physics Lab
Talk title: Metabolomics uncovers silent metabolic potential of Rhodopseudomonas palustris

2:45 pm: Coffee break

Session 5: Measurements and standards for synthetic biology

3:00 pm: Session Chair: Samuel Schaffter, NIST

3:05 pm: Elizabeth Strychalski, NIST
Talk title: Setting standards for synthetic biology

3:20 pm: Panel discussion
Ian Hines – NIST
Ryan Bing – Capra Biosciences Jonathan Jacobs, ATCC

4:00 pm: Conclude conference

Keynote Speaker
Matthew DeLisa, William L. Lewis Professor of Engineering, Cornell University, Director of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology

Sessions

• New to the Mid-Atlantic  (chair: Bill Bentley, Maryland)
• Cell-Free Expression Systems (chair:  Mark Styczynski, Georgia Tech)
• Engineered Living Materials (chair:  Sara Molinari, Maryland)
• Synthetic Biology for Agriculture and the Environment (chair: Scott Lenaghan, Center for Agricultural Synthetic Biology)
• Measurements and Standards for Synthetic Biology  (chair: Sam Schaffter, NIST)

Symposium Chair
Sam Schaffter (NIST)

Symposium Co-Chairs
Bill Bentley (UMD), Keith Kozminski (Virginia), Sara Molinari (UMD)

Schedule: Registration will open at 2:00pm on January 8, with Welcome Remarks beginning at 3:00pm. The symposium will conclude by 4pm on January 9. There will be a poster session on January 8.

Poster Sessions: Recommended poster size is 48 W x 36 H (in). Posters will be displayed on easels, with posters pinned to a board.

Location: The symposium will be held in The Stamp, University of Maryland, 3972 Campus Dr, College Park, MD. For information click here.

Transportation and Parking: Click here for more information

Accommodations: Click here for more information.

Travel Awards: A limited number of travel awards are available for students and early career individuals. To be considered for a travel award, check the appropriate box on the symposium registration form. Individuals traveling from beyond the immediate vicinity of the host institution and who are presenting their research are given first consideration for travel awards.

This NSF-sponsored symposium showcases research and opportunities in all areas of synthetic biology across the Mid-Atlantic region, welcoming researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, and leaders in academia, government, and the private sector who share a common interest in synthetic biology and its enabling technologies. The symposium will feature platform presentations, discussion panel, poster session, and time to network.

You are welcome to visit our website anytime to find the latest updates on opportunities, events, our activities, or other SynBio activities within the region. If you are a researcher, educator, entrepreneur, leader, business, program, or organization, consider joining the network. It’s free. Being a network member enables receipt of e-mails about events and opportunities specific to your interests, enables you to post information on this site relevant to our community, and provides eligibility for network awards. Membership is also an opportunity to maximize your connectivity to others in the network with similar or complementary interests. We especially encourage students and early career researchers to join. Not resident or working within the Mid-Atlantic region? You still may join the network.

Synthetic biology (SynBio) is the practical application of natural sciences, technology, and engineering to facilitate and accelerate the design, modification, and production of living organisms or cellular components that are implementable solutions to regional, national, and global problems, in a bioethical and environmentally-sensitive manner.

Supported by a National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network grant, our goals are to i) capacity map the Mid-Atlantic region to identify synergistic strengths and research complementarities, ii) create strategic research networks, iii) to develop and diversify the STEM workforce with particular regard to synthetic biology, and iv) to develop entrepreneurial opportunities.