Scientific Advisory Board

Stephen Mayfield is a Professor of Cell Biology, and Associate Dean of the graduate school at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), where he has been a faculty member since 1987. His research focuses on the molecular genetic analysis of gene expression in the green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and on the recombinant production of therapeutic protein and biofuel molecules using algae as a production platform. As an assistant professor at Scripps Research Institute, Dr. Mayfield was the first person to achieve transformation of the C. reinhardtii nuclear genome, work that allowed this organism to become the dominant genetic organism for the study of photosynthesis and chloroplast function.

Over the last ten years, Dr. Mayfield’s lab has identified mechanisms of chloroplast gene expression, shown that redox regulation is a dominant mechanism for chloroplast gene expression, and identified chloroplast protein disulfide isomerase as the molecular entity used for redox regulation in chloroplasts. These basic studies on chloroplast gene expression enabled the Mayfield lab to be the first to show high levels of recombinant protein expression in the algal chloroplast. This set the stage for the use of algae as a platform for therapeutic protein production, including the expression of a human monoclonal antibody. These studies resulted in the founding of Rincon Pharmaceutical, a startup company based on the low cost production of human therapeutics using eukaryotic algae as an expression platform. Recent studies in the lab have determined the three-dimensional structure of both the 80S and 70S ribosomes of C. reinhardtii using cryo-electron microscopy, and shown that the chloroplast ribosome contains novel structural domains used for translational regulation. These studies have redefined knowledge of the basic rules of gene expression in algae, and will help illuminate key aspects of gene expression essential to developing algae as a source of renewal bioenergy.

Dr. Burkart is Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry Tumor Growth, at UCSD, where he is investigating an enzyme-based approach for the study of biosynthetic enzymes used to produce natural product antibiotics of terrestrial and marine origin. Using techniques recently developed in his laboratory to identify and isolate modular synthase proteins from culture, they study the enzymes that produce a series of antitumor natural products. The tools they are providing will aid in the elucidation, discovery, and production of these natural products. Additionally, he and his team are actively participating in the organic synthesis and derivatization of antitumor compounds. This research has a two-fold purpose. One is to critically establish secondary biosynthetic pathways of individual enzyme systems through interaction with precursors and derivatives of antitumor molecules. The second purpose will assess the relevance of these molecules as improved therapeutics.

Currently Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Utah, Dale Poulter focuses his research on the interface between chemistry and biology. His current work studies enzymes in the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway and the pathways that catalyze activation and bond-forming reactions. A Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Poulter is the author of countless papers and the recipient of many awards, among them the James Flack Norris Award and the Repligen Award from the American Chemical Society, the Rosenblatt Prize from the University of Utah, the NIH Merit Award, and the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology.

Dr. Poulter also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Organic Chemistry, and has been on the editorial advisory boards of Chemical Reviews, Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Not merely a sought-after lecturer and academician, Dr. Poulter was also a founding scientist of Acacia Biosciences, Inc., and Echelon Biosciences, Inc., both drug discovery companies.

Dr. Briggs is currently a professor of Section of Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of California, San Diego. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Briggs has an acclaimed history as an innovator in the field of plant genomics. Dr. Briggs was the first person to isolate and characterize a plant gene for resistance to infectious disease, as well as the first to discover a natural mechanism for plant resistance to infection. He also invented the first reverse genetics technology for plants, which is still widely used in maize research, and was the first to use artificial transcription factors to regulate endogenous genes in plants.

In 1998, Dr. Briggs founded the Torrey Mesa Research Institute (originally as the Novartis Agricultural Discovery Institute). As President and CEO of TMRI, he led the team that produced a draft sequence of the rice genome, which provided a framework for genomics in all other grass crops (maize, wheat, barley, oats, rye, and sugarcane). Under his direction, TMRI created the first plant (Arabidopsis) GeneChip, the first reverse genetics technology for Arabidopsis, the first crop GeneChip (for rice), the first exon GeneChip (for Arabidopsis), and the first large-scale plant proteome (for rice).

His current research explores infectious disease in plants and the regulation of self-renewal and pluripotency in embryonic stem cells. In addition to his many academic accolades, Dr. Briggs has extensive industry experience. As Research Director at Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Dr. Briggs supervised the combined genomics program between Pioneer and DuPont. As Senior Vice President for Corporate Research at Diversa, Dr. Briggs invented the Designed Regulatory Protein (DRP) technology that can regulate any human gene.

Dr. Briggs received his B.S. in botany from the University of Vermont, and his Ph.D. in plant pathology from Michigan State University.

Currently Professor and Chairman of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Tulsa, Dr. Price held a professor position at Louisiana State University for over twenty years. A Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and member of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Price shares invaluable expertise about the specific behaviors and functions of hydrocarbon fuel molecules. Dr. Price's research interests are primarily in zeolites and zeolite catalysis. Over the past few years, significant progress has been made in Dr. Price's labs in several areas, including solid-state ion-exchange of zeolites and alkylamine probes of zeolitic cations. Price and his co-workers were the first to identify and describe an important solid-state ion-exchange process that takes place between gallium and zeolitic protons for this class of materials. Dr. Price has also identified some potentially valuable hydrocarbon conversion processes, which occur on the copper-zeolite catalysts. Dr. Price has especially provided expertise and experimental data on the conversion of biologically derived molecules into fuels. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Lamar University and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University.