TryptoBiotics

Stephan is a multidisciplinary scientist utilising and engineering microbes to advance human health. With eight years of experience in microbiology, computational biology and analytical chemistry, he has the board skills required to organise and conduct complex scientific projects. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Kiran Patil (MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge). After completing his BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge in 2015, Stephan obtained an MRes in ‘Modeling Biological Complexity’ from UCL which introduced him to the complexity of microbial ecosystems and theoretical frameworks to study them. During his PhD in the group of Prof. Markus Ralser at the Francis Crick Institute (2017-2021), Stephan developed novel mass spectrometry techniques to investigate microbial physiology and became interested in applying microbes to advance human health. This led to his current research which investigates metabolism in the human gut microbiome and ways to manipulate it. Stephan has a long-standing interest in entrepreneurship, completed SPERO and SPERO Advanced courses at UCL BaseKX and participated in EnterpriseTECH as an inventor.

Indra is a synthetic biologist leveraging genetics to unlock the metabolic potential of microbes. She studied Biotechnology at the National University of Quilmes (Argentina), and completed her PhD at The University of Western Australia in 2021 (Australia). During her PhD, she developed synthetic biology tools for the discovery of bioactive secondary metabolites in fungi. These included CRISPR systems and genetic engineering toolkits to screen and optimise the production of value-added metabolites. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Kiran Patil’s Lab (MRC Toxicology Unit, University of Cambridge), where she employs high-throughput genetic screens in human gut bacteria to elucidate mechanisms behind microbial-chemical interactions and microbial ecology. Her interest in translating biotechnological innovations led her to complete the PhD-Industry programme iPREP Biodesign including an internship at a start-up (Perth, Australia). She is also an active member of the engineering biology community, currently serving as Postdoc representative at the Steering Committee of Engineering Biology Cambridge (EngBio IRC), and previously served as Perth Node Leader for Synthetic Biology Australasia (SBA). She is passionate about science communication, receiving the 2022 MRC Toxicology Unit recognition for Public Engagement.

Kiran is an internationally leading microbiome researcher. Kiran studied Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (Mumbai, India). Following his PhD in Systems Biology at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Kiran was appointed as Assistant Professor at DTU where he worked on transcriptional regulation and metabolic engineering. In 2010, Kiran was appointed Group Leader at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg, Germany). He joined the MRC Toxicology Unit (University of Cambridge) as Director of Research in 2019 and was appointed Professor of Molecular Systems Biology in the Department of Biochemistry in 2020. His lab develops tools and model systems to decipher and modulate complex microbial interactions. Kiran is a co-founder of Cambiotics ApS, a recent start-up from the lab focussing on precision probiotics.

James is a clinical immunologist at Addenbrooke’s hospital and a group leader at MRC Toxicology Unit. He obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge. James is a world-leading expert in immuno-genetics and toxicity of immune checkpoint inhibitors. His lab has developed unique mouse models to study immune response to cancer therapies and recently also to study microbiome-immune axis. James regularly works as an immunology specialist for cancer treatments including for pancreatic cancer patients. Together with Kiran Patil, he co-founded Cambiotics ApS in January 2024.