The Education team focuses on developing, curating, and disseminating high-quality training and mentorship resources to increase synthetic biology literacy and support early-career researchers across Europe.
Uriel Barboza
Uriel is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and a visiting student at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, working in single-cell biophysics and biosensor technology. He was introduced to synthetic biology in high school through a final project on Prof. Randolph V. Lewis’s work on recombinant silk production, which led him to eventually discover iGEM. During his undergraduate studies, he participated in iGEM multiple times as a team member, mentor, and later as a judge. Prior to his PhD studies, he worked as a part-time lecturer at the University of Guanajuato, an experience that motivated his interest in education and mentorship and led him to join the education team to focus on increasing synthetic biology literacy
Head of Education Team
Matsuri Rojano-Nisimura
Matsuri recently joined the Educational team and is excited about implementing engagement strategies that help people get started and learn about Synthetic Biology. Matsuri completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in the University of Texas at Austin, and moved to Spain in 2024. She is currently a Postdoctoal Researcher at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where she is working on engineering skin bacteria to act as smart devices by developing biological circuits and sensors. Matsuri’s love for Synbio started a long (LONG) time ago when she first participated as an undergraduate student in the iGEM competition. To this date, she continues contributing to the competition as both advisor in the Judging and Human Practices Committees and Team mentor. Matsuri is always on the move!
Education Team member
Education Team memberAndré Luís Caetano
André has long been fascinated by life at its most fundamental level, which led him to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry. During his studies, he was introduced to iGEM and Synthetic Biology, an experience that sparked a lasting interest in engineering living systems. He participated in iGEM in 2021 and is currently a judge and a member of its Engineering Committee, supporting collaboration between teams. He later completed a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and is currently conducting research at NOVA School of Science and Technology in Lisbon, focusing on thermodynamic modelling of mRNA to fine-tune gene expression in pneumococcal bacteria.