Kate Adamala
Kate is a biochemist building synthetic cells. Her research aims at understanding chemical principles of biology, using artificial cells to create new tools for bioengineering, drug development, and basic research. The interests of the lab span questions from the origin and earliest evolution of life, using synthetic biology to colonize space, to the future of biotechnology and medicine.
She received a MSc in synthetic organic chemistry from the University of Warsaw, Poland. In grad school, she worked with Pier Luigi Luisi from University Roma Tre and Jack Szostak from Harvard. She studied RNA biophysics, small peptide catalysis and liposome dynamics, in an effort to build a chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution. Kate's postdoctoral work in Ed Boyden's Synthetic Neurobiology group at MIT focused on developing novel methods for multiplex control and readout of mammalian cells.
Kate is the coordinator of the synthetic cell engineering community Build-a-Cell. She is a co-founder and advisor of bioengineering startups investigating biomedical applications of synthetic cell technologies.
In adition to the experimental efforts of the lab, Kate works on biosafety and biosecurity implications of emerging synthetic biology technologies. She is a Polymath Fellow of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. She is a co-chair of the EBRC Security Working group, and member of the BioMADE Institute 4S working group and the Safety subcommittee.
Kate is co-founder and leader of the BioBOLD initiative.
Her full first name spells Katarzyna; she goes by Kate for the benefit of friends speaking less consonant-enriched languages.