NIST only participates in the February and August reviews.
Microbial cell factories are the bedrock of bio-based production of industrial products and bioindustrial manufacturing holds enormous potential to advance US strategic priorities (1-3). A core roadblock to catalyzing bioindustrial manufacturing is a lack of biology-driven process control and scale-up strategies adapted from the chemical industry have been insufficient to tame the enormous complexity of living biological systems. Dramatic changes from laboratory-scale to kL-scale bioreactors (e.g., increased shear, temperature, pH, and nutrient gradients) result in individual cells experiencing different processing conditions and could drive divergence in per-cell phenotype (i.e., performance).
There is a broad need for standardized methods and reference data to advance the field. This project will establish fermentation capabilities and characterization methods in the Group, including experimental protocols, data collection, and analysis methods. Work could include high-throughput data collection, strain benchmarking, development of predictive algorithms, and optimization of fermentations. The goal is to develop methods and collect data on industrially relevant microbes to facilitate standardization in bioindustrial manufacturing.
Results from this work are anticipated to support stakeholders in a wide range of microbial-related industries and research sectors. Our research group is interdisciplinary, drawing from diverse previous research experiences including wet-lab and computational work. Interested candidates are invited to reach out to discuss potential proposals.
(1) https://www.biomade.org/about-biomade
(2) https://www.cell.com/trends/biotechnology/fulltext/S0167-7799(22)00075-0
(3) https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article/365/22/fny236/5106341#123110415
Microbiology; Cell Characterization; Fermentation; Bioindustrial Manufacturing; Microbial Communities; Flow Cytometry; Reference Materials; Bioinformatics; Modeling; Engineering Biology;
level
Open to Postdoctoral applicants