2023 Conference Programme

Synthetic biology for a sustainable future

Our rich 2023 conference agenda featured a fantastic line up of speakers who debated how synbio could tackle the challenges of climate change, the opportunities that AI is creating for accelerating progress in medicine, and how investors view the sector.

Two days of inspiring talks, passionate debate, insightful questions and illuminating ideas from leading speakers and audience members ensured that everyone left SynbiTECH 2023 better informed and able to take the synbio revolution forward.

With ample networking opportunities each day, this London-based synthetic biology meeting was the perfect opportunity to connect with collaborators and industry enablers.

Day One
Networking/Refreshments	08:15 – 09:00	Registration and Coffee
Networking/Refreshments	09:00 – 09:15	Welcome: Andrew Griffith MP - Minister of State (Minister for Science, Research and Innovation) Professors Richard Kitney and Paul Freemont - Co-Directors, SynbiCITE
Keynote	09:15 – 09:50	Keynote: The Challenge of Climate Change Professor Sir Brian Hoskins - Grantham Institute
Panel discussions	09:50 – 10:35	Panel Discussion: BioSecurity Dr Piers Millett (Chair) - International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science Professor Petra Oyston - Synthetic Biology Lead at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Dr Cassidy Nelson – Head of Biosecurity Policy at Centre of Long-Term Resilience Louise Owen - Senior Civil Servant working in the Cabinet Office Dr Izzy Webb – Head of Engineering Biology and Strategy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Networking/Refreshments	10:35 – 11:00	Coffee Break
Keynote	11:00 – 12:30	Company Reviews: Dr Orr Yarkoni – Founder and CEO of Colorifix Dr Gustaf Hemberg – Founder and CEO of Scindo Dr Matthew Duchars – CEO of Chain Biotechnology Professor Anne Osbourn – Group Leader at the John Innes Center / HotHouse Therapeutics Dr James Field – Founder and CEO of LabGenius
Networking/Refreshments	12:30 – 13:30	Lunch
Presentations	13:30 – 14:00	Sponsor Talk: Beckman Coulter Of automation and DNA: The Edinburgh Genome Foundry Rennos Fragkoudis - Facility Manager from the Edinburgh Genome Foundry
Presentations	14:00 – 14:15	Synthetic Biology through a policy lens: an international perspective from the OECD Douglas Robinson - Policy Advisor at the OECD
Presentations	14:15 – 14:45	Plenary: Sustainable bioeconomy and societal transformation Professor Regina Birner, Chair of Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development at the University of Hohenheim, Germany
Panel discussions	14:45 – 15:30	Panel Discussion: Women in SynBio Fiona Mischel (Chair) – Director of International Outreach at Synbiobeta Professor Anne Osbourn – Group Leader at the John Innes Center / HotHouse Therapeutics Professor Susan Rosser – Director of the Edinburgh Mammalian Synthetic Biology Research Centre Dr Izzy Webb – Head of Engineering Biology and Strategy at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Professor Paul Freemont - Co-Director, SynbiCITE
Networking/Refreshments	15:30 – 16:00	Tea Break
Panel discussions	16:00 – 16:30	Panel Discussion: AI and Machine Learning Dr Lionel Clarke (Chair) - Director of BionerG Dr Leonard Wossnig – Chief Technology Officer at LabGenius Professor Alex Conradie - Sustainable Bioprocess Engineering at UCL Dr Per Greisen - VP of Computational Drug Design at BioMap Dr Nicole Wheeler - University of Birmingham
Presentations	16:30 – 17:45	Company Presentations: (10 mins) Dr Alicia Graham – CEO and Cofounder of MadeSweetly Dr Ben Reeve - Cofounder of Modern Synthesis Dr Miroslav Gasparek – CEO and Cofounder of Sensible Bio Dr Matthew Cummings - Cofounder of CC Bio Professor Natalio Krasnogor - Founder and CTO of Gitlife Dr James McDonald - CTO of Solena Materials
Panel discussions	17:45 – 18:15	Synbio Unplugged: In conversation with Chi Onwurah – Shadow Minister (Science, Research & Innovation) Moderator: Fiona Mischel
Networking/Refreshments	18:15 – 20:00	Drinks and Networking

Day Two
Networking/Refreshments	08:00 – 08:30	Registration and Coffee
Keynote	08:30 – 09:10	Keynote: Accelerating the US Bioeconomy Dr Mary Maxon – Executive Director of Biofutures, Schmidt Futures
Keynote	09:10 – 09:30	Plenary: Reimagining Gene Synthesis Dr Mike Daniels, Vice President of product, Evonetix
Keynote	09:30 – 10:00	Plenary: Transforming chemicals and synthetic fuels manufacture Professor Nigel Scrutton – Professor and Director of the EPSRC Future Biomanufacturing Research Hub and the BBSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre 'SYNBIOCHEM'
Keynote	10:00 – 10:30	Plenary: Re-imagining manufacturing: Building a circular gas fermentation industry Dr Michael Köpke, Chief Innovation Officer at LanzaTech
Presentations	10:30 – 10:40	Sponsor Talk: National Physical Laboratory (NPL) A whole-system metrology infrastructure to drive innovation, scale up and standardisation in Engineering Biology Jeffrey Anthony - Head of Engineering Biology Partnerships, NPL
Presentations	10:40 – 10:45	Student Talk: SynbioUK - how are we building community Shirin Bamezai, SynBioUK
Networking/Refreshments	10:45 – 11:15	Coffee Break
Presentations	11:15 – 12:45	Company Reviews: (15 mins) Dr Livija Deban – Chief Scientific Officer at Prokarium Irsyad Khairil – Cofounder and CTO at Valink Therapeutics Dr Rachel Shaw – CEO, Director & Cofounder of Eden Bio Cai Linton – CEO at Multus Media Dr Cian Duggan – CEO and Cofounder of Resurrect Bio
Networking/Refreshments	12:45 – 13:45	Lunch
Panel discussions	13:45 – 14:45	Panel Discussion: High Impact Investment Opportunities in Synthetic Biology Professor Richard Kitney (Chair) - Co-Director, SynbiCITE Antoine Pechin - Winton Ventures George Katzaros - SynBioVen Cai Linton - CEO at Multus Media Lord David Willetts - Executive Chair of the Resolution Foundation Nadav Rosenberg - Saras Capital
Presentations	14:45 – 15:30	Plenary session: EBRC (10mins) a. Overview: Dr India Hook-Barnard - Executive Director of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) b. Standards Project: Professor Paul Freemont - Head of Structural and Synthetic Biology Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London c. International Strategy Forum: Professor Richard Kitney - Professor of BioMedical Systems Engineering at Imperial College London
Networking/Refreshments	15:30 – 16:00	Tea Break
Panel discussions	16:00 – 16:45	Synbio Unplugged: In conversation with Professor Dame Angela McLean – Government Chief Scientific Advisor Moderator: Paul Freemont
Networking/Refreshments	16:45 – 17:00	Close

Networking / Refreshments

Panel discussions

Presentations

Keynote