Synthetic biology holds tremendous promise for transforming diverse sectors of the bioeconomy, including healthcare, agriculture, and the sustainable production of materials and energy. Both the United States and South Korea have recognized its importance, designating synthetic biology as a national strategic priority. By fostering collaborative research and facilitating the exchange of knowledge, resources, and innovations, the two countries can help accelerate the global bio-based economy. This conference is dedicated to advancing scientific exchange and catalyzing new research collaborations between the United States and South Korea.
Day 1: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Venue: Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, Conference Room 612
| 8:30 - 9:00 am | Registration & Coffee |
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| 9:00 - 9:10 am | Opening Remarks Gene Robinson, PhD Director, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) |
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| Session 1: Keynote Lectures Chair: Si Jae Park, PhD |
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| 9:10 – 9:50 am |
AI for Synthetic Biology Huimin Zhao, PhD University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA |
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| 9:50 – 10:30 am | Computational of New-to-Nature Proteins and Function-Enhanced Natural Proteins Byung-Ha Oh, PhD KAIST, Korea |
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| 10:30 - 10:50 am | Coffee Break & Group Photo |
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| Session 2: Biofoundries in US and Korea This session is co-organized with KRIBB. Chair: Dae-Hee Lee, PhD |
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| 10:50 - 11:10 am | Korea National Biofoundry Initiative Seung Goo-Lee, PhD KRIBB, Korea |
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| 11:10 - 11:30 am | AI-Driven Microfluidic Platform for Scalable Emulsion-Based Platforms in Synthetic Biology Daeyeon Lee, PhD University of Pennsylvania, USA |
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| 11:30 - 11:50 am | A Full DBTL Cycle of High-Throughput Metabolic Pathway Optimization in a Biofoundry Haseong Kim, PhD KRIBB, Korea |
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| 11:50 am - 12:10 pm | NSF BioFoundry in Glycoscience Empowers Glycoproteomic Analyses of Viral Spike Proteins and Biologics Lance Wells, PhD University of Georgia, USA |
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| 12:10 - 1:30 pm | Lunch |
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| Session 3: Microbial Engineering for Advanced Biomanufacturing Chair: Jeong Chan Joo, PhD |
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| 1:30 - 1:50 pm | Development of Methanotrophic Cell Factory for Methane Bioconversion Eun Yeol Lee, PhD Kyung Hee University, Korea |
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| 1:50 - 2:10 pm | Trash to Treasure: Converting Nitrogen Pollutants into Industrial Chemicals Keith Tyo, PhD Northwestern University, USA |
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| 2:10 - 2:30 pm | Two-Phase Fermentation Process for Methanotrophs to Enhance Methane Solubility and Mitigate Isoprenol Toxicity Seon-Won Kim, PhD Gyeongsang National University, Korea |
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| 2:30 - 2:50 pm | Stepping On The Gas: Innovating For A Circular Carbon Economy Michael Koepke, PhD LanzaTech, USA |
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| 2:50 - 3:10 pm | Coffee Break |
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| Session 4: Synthetic Biology Platforms and Tools Chair: Sangmin Lee, PhD |
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| 3:10 - 3:30 pm | Polyketide Natural Product Biosynthesis Chu-Young Kim, PhD University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA |
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| 3:30 - 3:50 pm | Design and Construction of Genetic Logic Circuits for Biomolecular Sensing and Response Automation Jeong Wook Lee, PhD POSTECH, Korea |
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| 3:50 - 4:10 pm | Metabolic Engineering of Clostridia for High-Efficiency Short-Chain Fatty Acid Ester Production Yi Wang, PhD University of California, Davis, USA |
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| 4:10 - 4:30 pm | A Cost-Effective Cell-Free Platform for Biofoundry Workflows Joongoo Lee, PhD POSTECH, Korea |
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| Session 5: Group Discussion and Reporting Chair: Yong-Su Jin, PhD |
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| 4:30 - 5:00 pm | Group Discussions Topic 1: U.S.–Korea Cooperation in Synthetic Biology Topic 2: AI Applications for Biofoundries and Biomanufacturing |
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| 5:00 - 5:20 pm | Reporting Session Summaries from each discussion group. |
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| 6:00 - 8:00 pm | Conference Dinner & Networking |
Day 2: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
| 8:30 - 9:00 am | Coffee |
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| Session 6: Molecular and Computational Tools for Synthetic Biology This session is co-organized with KRIBB. Chair: Jae Sung Lee, PhD |
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| 9:00 - 9:20 am | Multimodal generative AI for biomolecule engineering and autonomous discovery Ge Liu, PhD University of Illinois, USA |
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| 9:20 - 9:40 am | Semi-automated biofoundry workflows for sequence co-evolution–guided engineering of isoprene synthase Hyewon Lee, PhD KRIBB, Korea |
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| 9:40 - 10:00 am | Synthetic Translation Tools for Tunable and Precise Gene Expression in Bacteria Yong Hee Han, PhD Chonnam National University, Korea |
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| 10:00 - 10:20 am | AI Platform for Autonomous Enzyme Engineering Stephan Lane, PhD University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA |
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| 10:20 - 10:40 am | Coffee Break |
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| Session 7: Circular Biomanufacturing and Valorization Chair: Hyungyu Lim, PhD |
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| 10:40 - 11:00 am | Dynamic Adaptive Laboratory Evolution for Robust Multi-Sugar Catabolism in Pseudomonas putida and Enhanced Bioproduction from Complex Feedstocks Adam Feist, PhD University of California, San Diego, USA |
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| 11:00 - 11:20 am | Synthetic Biology and Bioprocess Engineering of Eukaryotic Microorganisms for Sustainable Biomanufacturing Nam Kyu Kang, PhD Kyung Hee University, Korea |
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| 11:20 - 11:40 am | Turning Waste into Worth: Co-Fermentation of Non-Conventional Carbon Sources for Enhanced Biosynthesis of Value-Added Chemicals Eun Joong Oh, PhD Purdue University, USA |
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| 11:30 am - 12:00 pm | Discovery of Novel Microbes and Enzymes for Plastic Degradation Soo-Jin Yeom, PhD Chonnam National University, Korea |
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| 12:00 - 1:30 pm | Lunch |
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| Session 8: From Lab to Industry: Applications of Synthetic Biology Chair: Heungchae Jung, PhD |
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| 1:30 - 1:50 pm | A Highly Developed Yeast Organic Acid Production Platform Owen Ryan, PhD ADM, USA |
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| 1:50 - 2:10 pm | The Synergy of AI and Synthetic Biology: A New Era for Strain Development Joon Young Jung, PhD CJ CheilJedang, Korea |
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| 2:10 - 3:00 pm | Session 9: Poster Presentations & NSF iBioFoundry Tours Networking |
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| 3:00 - 3:30 pm | Session 10: Panel Discussion – Global Synthetic Biology R&D Landscapes and Perspectives Chair: Nathan Hillson, PhD |
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Panelists:
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| 3:30 - 4:00 pm | Future Plans & Closing Remarks |