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Committee Member and Speaker Biographies

COMMITTEE

MARIA ESPONA, Co-Chair, is the director of Argentina Information Quality (ArgIQ), a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the Information Quality methodology across Argentina and Spanish-speaking countries. With a robust background in Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), particularly in the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), biorisk management, and export control, Maria has authored numerous publications on these subjects. She serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in various Health Security Partners and Coalescion projects, focusing on biorisk management and export control in Latin America, particularly in Argentina. Her work emphasizes zoonotic disease surveillance and biorisk management across diverse institutions. Maria also shares her expertise as an educator at universities in Argentina, Georgia, and Peru, where she teaches courses on Information Quality, CBRN export control, dual-use practices, and responsible data use. Maria’s contributions extend to global health security efforts as a member of the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group on the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences and Dual-Use Research (TAG-RULS DUR) and the IBSEN’s International Oversight Board. Maria has a doctorate in Criminology (with a focus on biological weapons) from the University of Granada, Spain.

SURYESH NAMDEO, Co-Chair until March 2025, is a senior research analyst specializing in science diplomacy, biosecurity, and open science projects at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Suryesh also advises the International Biosecurity and Biosafety

Initiative for Science (IBBIS) and holds membership in the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS). Formerly, he held the position of Director of Outreach and Engagement at the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG). He has also served as a science and technology consultant for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in Geneva, facilitating science diplomacy and providing scientific advice for the BWC. He completed his Ph.D. in molecular biology at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen, Germany.

NIDHI ADLAKHA is an associate professor at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) in India. She is an expert in molecular biology, protein engineering, and bioprocessing. Utilizing synthetic biology tools, she has successfully engineered a variety of enzymes and microbes. Her extensive experience and training in fermentation and scale-up have been crucial in ensuring the biosafety of processes. With over 10 years of experience in enzyme engineering and fermentation optimization, Dr. Nidhi’s work has been recognized with prestigious accolades such as the Biotechnology Award for Cutting Edge Research (2016) and the Biotechnology Ignition Award (2014).

MAYRA AMENEIROS is a senior fellow at the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science and has over 17 years of experience in biosecurity, biorisk management, research security and health-security threats. Ameneiros is a member of the WHO Health-Security Interface Technical Advisory Group (HSI-TAG), where she advises on health-security interface issues, including preparedness and response to deliberate events and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. She also serves on the Board of Directors of NextGen and liaises with the Global Health Security Agenda Consortium´s Steering Committee and APP3 Group on Biosafety and Biosecurity, as well as the NGO working group of the Biological Weapons Convention. She is a Senior Advisor for Sandia National Laboratories, an Affiliated Expert at CRDF Global, and an SME for Health Security Partners, focusing on capacity building efforts in Latin America and promoting awareness of biorisk management, biosecurity, cyberbiosecurity, and research security. In 2022, she was an ELBI Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an ACONA Fellow at Harvard University’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. Ms. Ameneiros holds a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry, is an IFBA-certified professional in biorisk management and biosecurity and former IFBA mentor.

LUCIANA BALBOA is an independent researcher at the Institute for Biomedical Research in Retroviruses and Aids (INBIRS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she and her team have worked to enhance comprehension of the immune response to Myco-bacterium tuberculosis. Luciana has garnered seven awards, including the Leonard Rieser

Award from the Latin American Academy of Sciences (2021). She was the first Argentinean young researcher to be part of the Global Young Academy (GYA). In her role at GYA, she co-led the launch of the Latin America Science Leadership Program, which supports early-career researchers in the region by providing them with leadership tools, and co-chairs the Science Diplomacy in the Americas Working Group. She also co-chairs the Young Academy of Argentina. Luciana was recently appointed to the steering board of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, demonstrating her commitment to engaging young Latin American researchers in critical global discussions and initiatives. Luciana has a Ph.D. in Immunology.

MÓNICA LIZETH CHÁVEZ GONZÁLEZ is a professor and coordinator of the Doctorate Program in Food Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Coahuila, Mexico. She is the General Coordinator and founder of the Bioprocessing Mx-LATAM Network, whose objective is to promote R&D in bioprocessing through interaction between universities, institutes, research centers, and relevant industries in Mexico and Latin America. Monica’s expertise includes bioprocessing, fermentation processes, microbial biotransformation, enzyme production, and industrial food waste valorization. She is a member of the Mexican Association of Food Science (AMECA) and the Food Safety Thematic Network: Valorization of Agro-industrial By-products and Reduction of Food Losses and Waste (PDA). Dr. Chávez has been a member of the National System of Researchers (México) since 2016. Mónica has a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology and has been awarded the Latin American Woman in Chemistry Award in the Emerging Leader category, granted by the American Chemical Society and the Latin American Federation of Chemical Associations (FLAQ).

ROCIO ALEJANDRA CHAVEZ-SANTOSCOY is a research assistant professor at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Monterrey (Mexico), where she leads the Core Lab Genomics. Her expertise lies in the functional effects of natural compounds and other nutraceuticals on complex biological systems thought the use of multi-omics data. She is also focused on the development of functional foods from agro-industrial waste, employing nanotechnology and multi-omics data. Alejandra has garnered recognition for her innovative work, including being named an Innovators under 35 LatAm 2017 by MIT Technology Review for her development of Functional Bread for chronic diseases. She holds three granted patents (2019, 2024 -2-) and has one patent applications pending. In 2024, Alejandra was elected as a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA). Alejandra holds active membership in the International Bio-nanotechnology Network (with a focus on food sustainability) and Mexico’s National Researchers Council. Alejandra has a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and has published over 37 articles in indexed journals.

MARIA MELINA FLOREZ-CUADROS is a lecturer with the Department of Veterinary Sciences at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru. She is also the Science Policy Interface Leader for The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) Colombian chapter. Melina completed a postdoctoral fellowship from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, where she was responsible for developing a ‘male -only’ transgenic strain of Lucila cuprina and transferring the technology developed to the laboratory in Panama operated by their collaborators at the USDA-ARS for the Eradication of Screwworm Program. She also worked at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH (NAMRU SOUTH), where she developed vaccines and immunoprophylactics against tropical diseases such as dengue and malaria. Melina has a Ph.D. in entomology and is a member of the Global Young Academy.

URIEL ALEJANDRO LÓPEZ LEMUS is the general director at Gene SL and president of the Center for Biodefense and Global Infectious Diseases in Mexico. He is also an entrepreneur, consultant, and Forensic Expert accredited by the Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico, where he conducts criminal investigations into high-impact crimes, including bioterrorism and bioweapons. Lemus holds credentials as a Registered Biosafety Professional (ABSA) and a Registered Biological Safety Officer accredited by the Canadian Association for Biological Safety. He is an active member of the International Society for Forensic Genetics and serves as an expert for the UN Biological Weapons Convention, representing Civil Society. Dr. Lemus completed postdoctoral training in emerging gene therapies at the City of Hope National Medical Center and The Scripps Research Institute in the USA. He has also undergone extensive management, technical, and scientific training at prestigious institutions such as the Harvard School of Public Health, the Robert Koch Institute in Germany, the University of Colorado at Denver, the CDC, FEMA, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

LARISA RUDENKO is the co-founder of BioPolicy Solutions LLC, a boutique consultancy that works in the emerging biotechnology space to develop risk/safety assessments for novel products, and research affiliate for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Program on Emerging Technologies. In her work she is responsible for developing fit-for-purpose risk/safety assessment methodologies for novel biotechnology products or technologies, policy issues for regulatory reform, especially for the products of biotechnology. Larisa was a Former senior advisor of 15 years for Biotechnology, U.S. FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, where she developed the policy for the regulation of animals with intentionally altered genomes and built a group to implement that policy. She also represented U.S. interests at major international harmonization convocations, worked

on trade policy for products of biotechnology, and served as an advisor to U.S. Cabinet-level/Executive Office policy makers and international political, science, and policy advisory groups on safety assessments of emerging biotechnology products requiring creative, science-based application of existing laws. She received her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology at The State University of New York at Stony Brook and conducted research on DNA damage and repair at the Brookhaven National Laboratory.

PAMELA SILVER, NAS is a professor of systems biology at Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute. She is one of the founding members of the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School, where she runs the Silver Lab. In her lab, she focuses on building synthetic cells that act as sensors, memory devices, bio-computers, producers of high value commodities and energy from the sun, and novel subsystems such as proteins with designed properties for therapeutic uses. Her research has been funded by grants from the NIH, DARPA, DOD, DOE, NSF, Novartis, Merck, and The Moore Foundation. Pamela is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, where she has participated in three projects, and is also a former member of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB).

SPEAKERS

Emmanuelle Lievina A. Tuerlings is a technical officer in the Emerging Technologies, Research Prioritization, and Support unit of the WHO Science Division, where she works on the governance of dual-use research, biorisk mitigation, and responsible conduct in life sciences. She has extensive experience in science and technology governance, particularly in dual-use research, biosecurity, and global health security, having worked at WHO from 2004 to 2011 on the “Responsible Life Sciences Research for Global Health Security” project. Prior to WHO, she was at the Harvard Sussex Program at the University of Sussex and consulted on dual-use biological technologies.

Luis Ochoa Carrera is the High-Containment Lab/Pandemic Safety Manager and Responsible Official for the Select Agent Program for the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at Michigan State University. Mr. Ochoa previously worked as the Director of the Epidemiological Surveillance and Research Laboratory Network of the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS) and served as BSL-3 Lab Coordinator at the National Reference Laboratory in Mexico. He is currently the President of the American Biological Safety Association (ABSA- International) and has also served as Chair of

the Publications Committee, member of the International Engagement Committee, member of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Working Group, and international editor for Applied Biosafety Journal.

Luis Herrera-Estrella, NAS is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Plant Genomics and Director of the Institute of Genomics for Crop Abiotic Stress Tolerance (IGCAST) at Texas Tech University. He is known for his expertise in plant molecular biology. His recent research has addressed the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate root development in response to nutrient availability and the physiology and genetics of the Arabidopsis plant response to phosphate availability. Dr. Herrera-Estrella has received numerous awards for his work, including the Javed Husain Award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 1987, the Award in Biology from the Third World Academy of Sciences in 1994, the RedBio Medal from the Latin American Biotechnology Network in 1998, and the WIPO Medal from the World Intellectual Property Organization in 2000. He recently developed a technology to produce aluminum-resistant transgenic plants based on the modification of the production of organic acids. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles in internationally recognized journals. Dr. Herrera-Estrella was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2003.

Lena Gálvez Ranilla is a professor and researcher in the Laboratory of Research in Food Science at Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria in Arequipa, Peru. Her research focuses on metabolomics, with an emphasis on characterizing the diversity and health-relevant properties of Andean grains. Dr. Gálvez Ranilla earned her Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, which included a period of doctoral research in the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts. She has been recognized with the L’Oréal–UNESCO–National Council for Science and Technology (Peru)–National Academy of Sciences (Peru) Prize for Women in Science.

Tessa Alexanian is the Technical Lead for the Common Mechanism, an international baseline for nucleic acid synthesis screening. Her previous work has focused on modular lab automation, assessing dual-use risks in synthetic biology projects, bioweapons convention compliance, and creating cultures of responsibility. Tessa wrangled robots to do bioengineering for four years at Zymergen, served for two years as the iGEM Competition’s Safety and Security officer, and has collaborated with organizations including Open Philanthropy, RAND, and the Council on Strategic Risks. She holds a 2023 Council on Strategic Risks Fellowship for Ending Bioweapons, and was a 2022 ELBI fellow, 2020 Foresight Fellow, and 2017 iGEM BWC delegate.

Ricardo Chavez is currently an IBBIS biosecurity consultant. He is also a former vice president of the iGEM Leagues Program at the iGEM Foundation and Founder of Scintia, an edtech biotech startup based in Mexico. He is an entrepreneur, consultant, and explorer of the intersection of bioliteracy, biosecurity, and bioliteracy and its democratization mediated through AI systems. He has served as a UN Youth for Biosecurity Fellow, a Young Leader of the Americas Initiative Fellow, and is one of Mexico’s CONAHCYT Scholars. He holds a B.A. in biotechnology engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey, and a MSc Systems and Synthetic Biology from the University of Edinburgh.

Becky Mackelprang is the director for security programs at the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). She leads EBRC’s Security Focus Area, bringing stakeholders across academia, industry, and government together to integrate security awareness into the policy and practice of engineering biology. Becky leads the development of commentary and recommendations on issues such as screening by synthetic DNA providers and the security implications at the intersection of artificial intelligence and engineering biology. She has implemented strategies to incorporate security into researcher education and training. Becky is committed to supporting an engineering biology research and development ecosystem that maximizes societal benefit while using a multi-faceted approach to support safe, secure, and productive innovation. Previously, Becky was an EBRC Science Policy Postdoctoral Scholar, an AAAS Mass Media Fellow, a science communication postdoctoral researcher at University of California (UC), Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in Plant Biology from UC Berkeley.