Elena Brevnova Email & Phone Number

London, GB

Leading Molecular Biology team working on engineering enzymes and strains for plastic material degradation and recycling applications.

Bedford, Massachusetts, US

• Leading Strain Development, Automation, Analytical and Operation teams
• External communication, BD and technical sales
• Overseeing and consulting on over 70 microbial engineering projects
• Designed and implemented centralized project information storage and sharing system
• Lead company-wide career ladder design and implementation
• Initiated and overseeing design of centralized DNA/strain storage and documentation system

Boston, MA, US

• Company strategic technical vision and development
• Senior program lead and people manager supervising teams of scientists working on engineering organisms to produce various value products

Boston, MA, US

• Designed the project plan and was leading for the first year the current biggest Ginkgo project, that resulted in launching first cultured cannabinoid product: THC & CBG infused gummy – Speenach Feelz®.
• Was leading a technical team developing pooled COVID test for schools resulting in launching commercial product Concentric by Ginkgo.
• Initiated, lead designing, building and implementation of Central Strain Banking
• Initiated and lead AI / Machine Learning technology based projects for protein production optimization

Cambridge, MA, US

• Built EVELO molecular biology laboratory and team for microbiome engineering.
• Developed HTP assays for monitoring interaction of bacteria with mammalian cells
• Studied mechanism of bacteria anti-cancer mechanisms and identified key genetic targets for anti-cancer bacteria engineering
• Designed genetic tools for engineering anaerobic and aerobic anti-cancer bacteria
• Applied directed evolution to develop bacteria strain with several orders of magnitude higher tolerance to bile and acid

Paris La Défense Cedex, FR

• Built first Total molecular biology laboratory and team in Cambridge MA for lipids production in yeast
• Provided leadership for Novogy Strain Development group and technical management of Novogy R&D working on developing renewable fuels and chemicals by yeast genetic engineering
• Liaison for Total/Novogy collaboration at Novogy site
• Administrative management of Total Gas & Power employees at Novogy site

Lebanon, NH, US

• Managed a group of scientists working on protein engineering of saccharolytic enzymes with optimized properties for particular substrates and developing yeast strains used for biofuel production from starch and.
• Responsible for research program, experimental design, product delivery and reports.
• Developed first GMO yeast strain approved in the U.S. by AAFCO regulatory agency for use in corn ethanol industry, launching Mascoma’s first commercial product - TransFerm®.

• Optimized production of human antibodies and other therapeutic proteins in yeast Pichia pastoris.
• Designed an O-glycosylation regulation system by adopting bacterial TetR regulation system for conditional expression of Pichia pastoris PMT genes.
• Studied and reported on the effect of drug-pump-gene knock-outs on O-glycosylation inhibition by PMT inhibitor in Pichia pastoris strains.
• Designed chaperone and fusion-protein libraries as tool for glycoprotein expression optimization in Pichia pastoris.
• Studied and optimized N-glycosylation occupancy of heterologously expressed proteins in Pichia pastoris.

San Diego, CA, US

• Investigated cellular mechanisms of cell proliferation and apoptosis in mammalian cell lines such as pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells
• Studied pathogenic mechanisms involved in primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH).
• Showed that overexpression of human Kv1.5 potassium channel induces apoptosis in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells.

Stanford, CA, US

• Studied structure/function relation of gp130 and human interleukin-6 receptor binding to human interleukin-6 by isothermal titration calorimetry.
• Expressed gp130-cytokine hexameric signaling complexes (complex of gp130, viral or human interleukin-6 and human interleukin-6 receptor) in insect cells.
• Solved hexameric structure and studied assembly of human interleukin-6/IL-6 alpha-receptor/gp130 complex.

Ph.D., Molecular Biology

B.S./M.S., Radiation Biophysics And Ecology