Pierre Monsan (65) is Professor Emeritus at the National Institute for Applied Sciences of the University of Toulouse, and Professor at Mines ParisTech (Department of Biotechnology). He is Head of the Executive Board and Founder of the pre-industrial demonstrator “Toulouse White Biotechnology (TWB)”.
He has been active for 44 years in the field of enzyme catalysis (enzyme production, purification, immobilization and application, screening, structural characterization and molecular design). He authored more than 220 scientific publications, 2 books and 62 patents. His H-factor is 35.He was involved in the founding of several start-up companies: BioEurope (1984), BioTrade (1996), Genibio (1998) and in the move of LibraGen from Lyon to Toulouse (2004). He is a founding member of the French Academy of Technology, Deputy-chairman of the French Federation of Biotechnology, member of the Executive Board of the European Federation of Biotechnology and French representative at the Board of the International Carbohydrate Organization.
Prof. Gotor-Fernández studied his Licenciature in Chemistry in the University of Oviedo (1992-1997), specializing in Organic Chemistry. In July 2001, he obtained his Doctorate in Chemistry working in the chemoenzymatic synthesis of vitamin D3 analogues. Then, he moved to the University of Edinburgh in 2002, joining the research group of Prof. Nicholas Turner with a Marie Curie postdoctoral contract focusing in the development of chemoenzymatic deracemization processes of amines. After two years, he returned to the University of Oviedo where he received different competitive postdoctoral contracts (2005-2007 and 2008-2012). In June 2012, he became Assistant Professor of the University of Oviedo inside the Organic Chemistry area. In this time, he performed a short-term placement in the Universidade Federal do Ceará (Fortaleza, Brazil, 2009).
He is co-author of around 130 scientific contributions including research articles, reviews, chapter books and patents, mostly in the field of Biocatalysis and organic synthesis. His main current research interest involves the development of selective chemoenzymatic routes for the asymmetric synthesis of organic compounds using hydrolases, oxidoreductases and transferases, especially focusing in the area of biocatalytic promiscuity and the design of chemo- and multienzymatic concurrent processes in different media (aqueous, organic, ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents).
Jean Marie FRANCOIS got his PhD from University of Louvain in 1988 (Belgium). He was appointed full professor of Industrial Microbiology and BioNanotechnology at the National Institute of Applied Sciences, University federal of Toulouse, in 1993 and reached the Exceptional class in 2009. He is member of the Microbial physiology and Biotechnology & Bioengineering, section of the European Federation of Biotechnology. He is editor in Chief in BMC Biotechnology for Biofuels since 2017, editor associated of Frontiers in Synthetic Biology, member of the editorial board of FEMS Yeast Research and of Microbial Cell. He has been appointed as expert member of European Science Foundation in 2016. He holds more than 180 publications in international refereed journals and 17 patents. In 2010, he co-founded Dendris SA (www.dendris.fr ) a startup that exploits recent development in BioNanotechnology for molecular in vitro diagnostic
Jean-Pierre Mahy got an ENSCP (Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Paris) engineering degree in 1979. He prepared a Thesis of doctor-engineer ENSCP, under the direction of Mrs. P. Battioni and D. Mansuy at the Chemistry Laboratory of ENS ULM (12/1980-12/1982) working on the interactions of monosubstituted hydrazines with hemoproteins. After he got his Diploma of Doctor-Engineer ENSCP (December 15, 1982) he was appointed as a CNRS researcher in the lab Directed by D. Mansuy). He then prepared a “Thèse d’Etat“ on the nitrene transfer reactions catalyzed by metalloporphyrins under the supervision of D. Mansuy, which he defended on September 24, 1986. He then spent a Post-doctoral internship in the laboratory of Professor S.J. Benkovic (Pennstate University, USA, 10/1991-10/1992), during which he started a new field of research concerning catalytic antibodies with a metalloporphyrin cofactor that he named “hemoabzymes”. Back to France he was promoted Research Director at the CNRS in October 1996.
He then moved and was appointed as a Professor in chemistry at the University of Paris-Sud 11, on September 1st, 1999, where he took successively the head of the Laboratory of Bioorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry (LCBB, 01/2000–12/2008) and of the Institute of Molecular Chemistry and Materials of Orsay (ICMMO) (01/2009-12/2014). Starting from this date, he developped with his research group within the Bioorganic and Bioinorganic Chemistry Team (ECBB) of ICMMO, research thematics centered on "the design and synthesis of new metal complexes and the study of their interactions with biomolecules", including model metalloporphyrinic complexes for Hemoproteins, Non-Heme 2 iron-metalloenzymes (methane monooxygenase) and model complexes, and Artificial metalloenzymes. Since September 2014 he has been promoted Professor Outstanding Class 2.
Since march 1st 2012 he is Director of the Laboratory of Excellence "Chemistry of Multi-functional Molecular Architectures and Materials" (LabEx CHARM3AT) (about 600 people, from 8 southern partners of Paris: Paris-South University, Versailles-Saint-Quentin University, Evry University, Ecole polytechnique, ENS Cachan, Ecole Centrale Paris, CNRS, CEA) and since January 1st 2016 he is the Head of the Chemistry Department at the University of Paris-Saclay.
He is co-author of 94 publications, 7 book chapters, 2 patents. His h factor is 25 (WOS), 29(Google Scholar) with more than 2250 citations. He delivered 46 invited conferences and 60 oral communications in national and international congresses, and 43 invited seminars in French and foreign academic laboratories.
Robert Kourist studied Biochemistry from 2000 to 2006 at the Universities of Greifswald (Germany) and Oviedo (Spain). During his Ph.D. in the group of Prof. Uwe Bornscheuer in Greifswald (2006-2008) he developed enzymatic reactions for the synthesis of optically pure tertiary alcohols. In 2009, he went for a postdoctoral stay to the laboratory of Prof. Kenji Miyamoto at the Keio University in Yokohama, Japan. From 2012 to 2016 he was Juniorprofessor for Microbial Biotechnology at the Ruhr-University Bochum and was appointed as professor and head of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology at the Graz University of Technology in January 2017. Robert Kourist received the DSM Science and Technology Award North (2009) and a 1st prize in the VentureCup Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (2009). In 2016, he became a member of the Young College of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts.
Dr. Kourist’s research is dedicated to the combination of chemical and biological catalysts, with a special focus on the combination of enzymes with transition metal catalysts. A second line of research aims at the utilization of chemolitothrophic and autotrophic microorganisms for the production of useful chemicals.
Mathieu Sperandio is Professor at the National Institute for Applied Sciences of the University of Toulouse, leading a group dedicated to sustainable waste and wastewater management. After a PhD in Chemical Engineering (1998), he went for postdoctoral stay at the laboratory of AWMC in Queensland University (Australia). He obtained a lecturer position in 2001 and Professor position in 2009. He was an invited Professor in Montreal Polytechnique (Canada) in 2010. He has supervised more than 22 PhDs, authored more than 70 scientific publications, 3 books and 3 patents. He is a member of the management committee of IWA (International Water Association) task group on Nutrient Removal and Recovery. His group works on process engineering strategies toward waste conversion into valuable products in the environmental field. He develops new bioreactor systems and optimization tools for exploring and exploiting the natural potential of diverse microbial resources in carbon and nutrient cycles.
Yvonne van der Meer has over 15 years of experience in sustainable chemistry. She obtained her Master degree in Molecular Sciences from Wageningen University in 1997 and her PhD degree on the characterization of NiW and CoW hydrodesulfurization catalysts from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in 2001. She worked at the Dutch research council NWO for six years where she initiated and managed national and European public-private research programs in sustainable and biobased chemistry.
Yvonne joined Maastricht University as an advisor to the Executive Board in 2008. She is co-founder of the Maastricht University Master program on Biobased Materials and two research institutes: Chemelot Institute for Science and Technology and the Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials. As of 2015 she is department head Biobased Materials and associate professor Sustainability of Biobased Materials. She is principal investigator “Sustainability assessments of biobased materials” within the Aachen Maastricht Institute for Biobased Materials. She is also chair of the Educational Program Committee of the master Biobased Materials and she teaches bio-based materials and sustainability at bachelor and the master level. In May 2017 she was appointed member of the scientific committee of the Biobased Industries Joint Undertaking.
Prof. Alois Jungbauer is the Co-founder, Executive Editor and Editor in Chief of Biotechnology Journal. Prof. Jungbauer serves as the Head of the Laboratory for Protein Technology & Downstream Processing and the Christian Doppler Laboratory of Receptor Biotechnology. He is working in the field of bioengineering of proteins, plasmids and viruses, with special focus on expression, downstream processing and characterisation of large biomolecules. He has extensive experience in the expression of proteins in yeast, E.coli and mammalian cells. He has developed a multi protein expression/purification system for expression of unknown gene products and subsequent purification in a high throughput mode. Prof. Jungbauer serves as a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board at World Trade Group, Ltd. He is a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Novasep Holding SAS. As a proliferate researcher, he has more than 250 publications on protein expression and bioseparation, 15 patents and 12 book contributions. He is a member of editorial boards from numerous journals in the area of biochemical engineering. Prof. Jungbauer received his PhD in Food Technology and Biotechnology in 1986 from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria.
Ica Manas-Zloczower is the Thomas W. and Nancy P. Seitz Professor of Advanced Materials and Energy in the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering and the Distinguished University Professor at Case Western Reserve University. She received BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from Polytechnic Institute Jassy, Romania and a Doctor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota.
Professor Manas-Zloczower is the recipient of the 2017 SPE Fred E. Schwab Education Award and the 2012 George S. Whitby Award for Distinguished Teaching and Research awarded by American Chemical Society Rubber Division. She was elected and served as the President of the International Polymer Processing Society in 2011-2013. She is also a fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers and was elected to the Board of Directors of Extrusion Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers in May 2000. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Polymer Engineering 1999-2014 and serves on the Book Advisory Board for Hanser publisher.
Professor Manas-Zloczower’s research accomplishments have been recognized through more than 85 plenary, keynote and invited lectures at national and international conferences and more than 100 invited seminars at various companies and universities worldwide. She has also chaired several sessions at national and international meetings. She presented the 2014 and 2017 Plenary Technical Lecture for the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Professor Manas-Zloczower has more than 160 publications in peer-reviewed journals, more than 100 published conference proceedings, and a number of book chapters and patents.
Nicholas J. Turner obtained his DPhil in 1985 with Prof. Sir Jack Baldwin and from 1985 to 1987 was a Royal Society Junior Research Fellow, spending time at Harvard University with Prof. George Whitesides. He was appointed lecturer in 1987 at Exeter University and moved to Edinburgh in 1995, initially as a reader and subsequently as a professor in 1998. In October 2004 he joined the University of Manchester as Professor of Chemical Biology, where his research group is located in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB). He is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis (CoEBio3) and a Co-Director of SYNBIOCHEM, the BBSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre. He is also a cofounder of Ingenza. His research interests are in the area of biocatalysis with particular emphasis on the discovery and development of novel enzyme catalyzed reactions for applications in organic synthesis. His group are also interested in the application of directed evolution technologies for the development of biocatalysts with tailored functions.
Francesco Mutti is native of Bergamo (Italy). He obtained a Master’s degree with summa cum laude in Industrial Chemistry (2004) and a PhD in Chemistry (2008) at the University of Milan for his work on the catalytic properties of laccases. From 2009 to 2012, he conducted research on chemo-enzymatic cascades and asymmetric enzymatic reductive amination as Post-Doc in the group of Prof. Wolfgang Kroutil, at the University of Graz (Austria). After a period as Post-Doc in the group of Prof. Nick Turner (2013-2014), Francesco became Research Fellow at The University of Manchester (UK). Since July 2015, Francesco has moved to the University of Amsterdam (NL) to take a tenure-track position as chair of the Biocatalysis group.
Francesco has been recipient of prestigious European grants (e.g. Marie Curie fellowship in 2009 and an ERC Starting Grant in 2014) as well as national Dutch grants (e.g. NWO-Echo and NWO-Sector Plan for Chemistry). He has published more than 30 research papers on international peer-reviewed journals, several book chapters and 3 world patents. Among the others, Francesco was recipient of the “Italian Chemical Society Award 2005” (Italian Chemical Society), he is Honorary Research Fellow of The University of Manchester (2015) and member of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (2015).