Scientific Advisory Board

Paula Marques ALVES , PhD, CEO of IBET; Director of the Animal Cell Technology Unit of IBET/ITQB; Professor at the FCT-NOVA University Lisbon; PhD in Biochemical Engineering (2001). 2017-2022: President of ESACT; Member of the Horizon 2020 Advisory Group for Group for Health, demographic change and well-being. Currently, she is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Center for Research and Development of Immunobiologicals – CerDI (Instituto Butantan, Brazil) and a SAB Member of the IABS (International Alliance for Biological Standardization) Endowment Fund Committee, France and of Vibalogics, Germany. Paula Alves has been using Animal Cell Technology for R&D for production of complex biopharmaceuticals (viral vectors, vaccines and rec proteins) and stem cells. She expanded bioengineering approaches to develop 3D in vitro models for pre-clinical research using primary cultures and stem cells. Currently she serves as an Editor for the Journal of Biotechnology.
Email: Paula M. Alves
Webpages: http://tca.itqb.unl.pt, www.ibet.pt

Michael J. BETENBAUGH is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and lead PI of the Advanced Mammalian Biomanufacturing Innovation Center (AMBIC). He is a researcher in the area of cell engineering for mammalian and insect cell biotechnology specializing in protein expression, apoptosis, glycosylation, metabolism, cell cycle, and chaperones. Dr. Betenbaugh received the Young Investigator Award from National Science Foundation, the James Van Lanen Award from the American Chemical Society, and the D.I.C. Wang Award for Excellence in Biochemical Engineering. He was a founding member of the Society of Biological Engineering and led the JHU initiative to be one of the original academic members of the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL).
Email: Michael J. Betenbaugh
Institute Homepage: Betenbaugh Lab

Emma MASTER is professor at the University of Toronto (Canada) and adjunct professor at Aalto University (Finland). Her research concentrates on the discovery and development of enzymes and non-catalytic proteins that tune and functionalize main biopolymers of plant biomass, thereby creating sustainable pathways to novel bio-based materials from renewable plant sources. The biotechnologies and bio-based products developed through her research supports the establishment of circular bio-based economies that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels while creating new opportunities for forest and agricultural sectors. Awarded a Finland Distinguished Professor Fellowship in 2010, Emma also received an ERC Consolidator grant in 2016. She is the leader of Genome Canada’s SYNBIOMICS project, and in 2021 has received a Connaught Innovation Award for her work on plant-based, renewable alternatives to petrochemical compounds.
Institute Homepage: http://www.chem-eng.utoronto.ca/

Stephen WITHERS is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and elected Fellow of the Royal Society (London). His research roots are in mechanistic enzymology and carbohydrate chemistry and biochemistry, with a particular focus upon glycosidases and glycosytransferases. He pioneered methods to engineer novel enzymes, such as glycosynthases, creating catalysts for synthesizing complex sugars. He was awarded with the Centenary Prize by the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the CIC Medal by the Chemical Institute of Canada.
Email: Steve Withers
Institute Homepage: http://www.chem.ubc.ca/stephen-withers

Bojan Zagrovic is a Professor of Molecular Biophysics at University of Vienna. He obtained a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Harvard University and PhD in biophysics from Stanford University. After an EMBO Postdoctoral Fellowship in the group of Wilfred F. van Gunsteren at ETH Zurich, he became a group leader and scientific director at the Mediterranean Institute for Life Sciences in Split Croatia. Since 2010, he has been leading a research group and teaching at University of Vienna. His interests include theoretical and computational analysis of biomolecular dynamics and interactions and, in particular, RNA-protein interactions. He has been awarded the START Prize of the Austrian Research Fund FWF as well as an ERC Starting Independent and ERC proof of concept grants.
Email: Bojan Zagrovic
Institute Homepage: http://www.maxperutzlabs.ac.at/