Abstract:

The seminar will focus on the establishment and growth of SynbiCITE, the U.K.’s National Industrial Translation Centre for Synthetic Biology/Engineering Biology (SB/EB). The First section of the seminar will discuss sustainability and the development of the BioEconomy. SB/EB comprises platform technology that can be applied across a wide range of fields. The belief in the UK is that SB/EB can make a major contribution to the development of the Bioeconomy and Sustainability. SynbiCITE staff have been involved in the development of a number of UK Government Policy Reports, which will be described. SynbiCITE was established in 2013 and comprises three hubs of activity namely the Science and Engineering Bio design and Applications Hub, the Business and Outreach Hub and the Facilities Hub. The aims of SynbiCITE will be described and placed in the context of the overall SB/EB research activities in the UK. Activity in each of the three hubs will be described in terms of the support of company growth – in relation to the development of the overall SynbiCITE Ecosystem. The growth of start-ups and SMEs within the UK will be discussed. Twenty-seven companies have been given a wide range of support through SynbiCITE (SynbiCITE helped found a number of them) – these companies now worth over £1 billion (market cap). The support of these companies will be described, together with more general support of companies in the UK through such operations as the annual SB/EB conference, SynbiTECH, and the development international collaborations, particularly in relation to policy. The final stage of the seminar will describe the development and operation of a venture fund SynBioVen (SBV) in collaboration with Imperial College to produce a new business model for company support and growth.

Speaker’s bio:

Richard Kitney is Professor of Biomedical Systems Engineering; Chairman of the Institute of Systems and Synthetic Biology; and Co-director of the EPSRC National Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation. He was Founding Head of the Department of Bioengineering and a former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering.

He Chaired The Royal Academy of Engineering Inquiry into Synthetic Biology http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/synthetic-biology-report . Kitney is a member of the Ministerial Leadership Council for Synthetic Biology and was one of the main authors of the UK Roadmap for Synthetic Biology http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/RCUK-prod/assets/documents/publications/SyntheticBiologyRoadmap.pdf.

Richard is recognised as a leading research worker in the field of synthetic biology and, with Professor Paul Freemont, has been responsible for developing the Imperial College Cluster for Synthetic Biology  which is now recognised as one of the leading international centres in the field.

In 2013, they were successful in winning the national competition to establish the UK national industrial translation centre for synthetic biology – SynbiCITE.
Richard has published over 300 papers in the fields of synthetic biology, mathematical modelling, biomedical information systems, and medical imaging and has worked extensively in and with industry.

Kitney was made a Fellow of the World Technology Network in 1999 for his innovative work in the fields of health and medicine. He was made an Academician of the International Academy of BioMedical Engineering in September 2003 (this is the highest honour bestowed by the International Federation of BioMedical Engineering Societies). He is also a Fellow of AIMBE, the America Academy of BioMedical Engineering.

In 2006 he was made an Honorary Fellow of both The Royal College of Physicians and The Royal College of Surgeons. In June 2001, Professor Kitney was awarded The Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to Information Technology in Biomedicine.