The OXIPRO project is delighted to announce the establishment of an expert Advisory Board, whose advice and guidance will increase the value and contribute to the success of this initiative.
OXIPRO’s success relies on the alignment to values, needs, and expectations of targeted stakeholder groups, including research, business, policy, and society in general. One of the tools central to this is an external Advisory Board, whose guidance – based on their specific fields of interest – is vital.
With the aim of creating a balanced group based on sector, geographic location, and area of expertise, OXIPRO identified three experts from fields covering the biotech industry, academic enzyme proficiency, and industrial and/or academic fermentation know-how with scale-up experience. Each member is widely recognised for their excellence in academia and/or practice, as well as having considerable professional experience and knowledge of entrepreneurship, scaling, industrialisation, regulation, and policy, which are crucial assets for OXIPRO.
OXIPRO’s new Advisory Board members are:
Dr. Olav Lanes – Director R&D and Applications, Arctic Zymes Technologies ASA:
With a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Tromsø, Dr Lanes not only has extensive experience in enzymes, but also in innovation management and product development as the inventor and co-inventor of eight patent- or pending patent families, all are part of the IPR assets in the company today. OXIPRO is pleased to have an extra eye on the innovation and exploitation routes.
Prof. Jennifer Littlechild – Professor of Biological Chemistry, University of Exeter:
A biochemist with interests in the structure and mechanism of a range of microbial and human enzymes, Prof Littlechild has a special interest in industrial biotechnology and biocatalysis. Many of these enzymes are used in the production of novel drugs of interest to pharmaceutical companies. Other enzymes have applications within the healthcare industries and in different areas of industrial biotechnology. Her solid experience in oxidoreductases is an asset to OXIPRO.
Dr. Karel De Winter – Head of Technology Development, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant:
Following his PhD in Applied Biotechnology at the University of Ghent, Dr De Winter joined BBEPP as an R&D Project Engineer, where he currently leads a talented team in the field of industrial biotechnology. His expertise in this area includes green chemistry, process development, scale-up, and food-grade applications. Dr De Winter also brings to OXIPRO his experience of working at both lab and industrial scales along the innovation chain for commercialisation and market penetration.
With the input from these expert advisors, OXIPRO can now benefit from a flow of advice and guidance on progress, deliverables, and outputs, as well as direction and external recommendations for its scientific work and overall project strategy.
Dr. Gro Bjerga, Scientific Leader of the Marine Biotechnology group at NORCE and OXIPRO Project Coordinator, said: “OXIPRO is excited to have a strongly competent Advisory Board with such complementary skills. Their expert advice is one of several actions OXIPRO is implementing and will help us to elicit stakeholder response to our research. This can inform our decision making throughout the lifetime of this project and will facilitate the next steps in identifying and prioritising research directions, how we set-up that research, and how we make the results relevant for society”.
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About OXIPRO
OXIPRO is a four-year initiative funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme and brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers and stakeholders from 15 entities across Europe to focus on the development of novel enzymes for environment-friendly consumer products.
The OXIPRO partners are developing and deploying an efficient oxidoreductase foundry using cutting-edge bioinformatics and biotechnology, and by broadening the range of industrial oxidoreductases for more sustainable processes, this initiative will ultimately contribute to the transition to environment-friendly products, with detergents, textiles, sunscreens, and nutraceuticals.
Through the integration of computational workflows and state-of-the-art biotechnological technologies, OXIPRO will expedite the lab to market journey, while shortcutting downstream implementation and ensuring market uptake. This will be supported by ecosystem intelligence generated throughout the project as well as engagement with research, policy, societal and industrial actors in co-creation and interactions to maximise output and enable faster and systemic innovations.
For more information, contact:
Project Coordinator: Dr. Gro Bjerga
Communications: Lesley Tobin
To join the OXIPRO Community and receive project updates, please register here
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101000607.