Making & Breaking things with Synthetic Biology

Associate Professor Vikramaditya Yadav
The Biofoundry, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
University of British Columbia 

Hosted by Prof. Krishna Mahadevan

The principal theme of Prof. Yadav’s research is the utilization of metabolic & enzyme engineering to investigate and customize novel biosynthetic enzymes that can convert biomass-derived feedstocks into value-added chemicals. His group also extends the principles of metabolic engineering to the design and development of unique bioremediation strategies to rehabilitate the water quality in and around industrial zones and develop new mining biotechnologies. In addition to green engineering, his research group also pursues medical biotechnology research, and focuses on bioengineering for assay development, lead generation and product development.

The seminar will provide a broad overview of the research and commercialization efforts that are afoot in his laboratory at UBC. In particular, the talk will cover some of his group’s recent successes in elucidating and using a novel plant metabolic pathway for the synthesis of value-added chemicals, the development of a biosensor for screening insect repellants, bioremediation of oil sands tailings ponds and the fabrication of biohybrid materials for harvesting solar energy.

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Vikramaditya G. Yadav is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is a leading voice on synthetic biology research, education and translation in Canada, and his research program is distinguished by its impact and strong emphasis on technology translation, and his group collaborates with several companies. He is also the Chief Technology Officer of Metabolik Technologies Inc., an environmental biotechnology company, and serves on the boards of InMed Pharmaceuticals and Phytonix Corporation. He is a highly respected educator and currently serves as the Director of the Master of Engineering Leadership program in Sustainable Process Engineering at UBC. He currently serves as an Associate Scientific Advisor for Science Translational Medicine and an Associate Editor of Catalysis in Green Chemistry & Engineering. He was recognized by the CSChE with its Emerging Leader in Chemical Engineering Award in 2017