2026 Program Chair

Jennifer Headman

POET

Topic Chairs

Biocatalysis and Protein Engineering

Ross Thyer
Rice University

Bjorn Traag
Aralez Bio

Josh Michener
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Fermentation and Biomanufacturing

Neal Connors
Phoenix BioConsulting, LLC

Sarita Chauhan
GEA

Chris Stowers
Kerry

Microbiomes and Environmental Microbiology

Kate Zhalnina
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Joshua Elmore
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Allison Werner
National Laboratory of the Rockies

Metabolic Engineering

Jay Huenemann
Corteva

Pamela Peralta-Yahya
Georgia Institute of Technology

Alissa Bleem
National Laboratory of the Rockies

Natural Products

Jaclyn Winter
University of Utah

Wenlong Cai
Brightseed

Barry O’ Keefe
National Institutes of Health