Noelia Ferruz
Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), Barcelona, Spain
Noelia Ferruz is a group leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) (Barcelona, Spain) leading the AI for Protein Design team. Her research combines generative AI, explainable models, and lab validation to create functional proteins for medicine, sustainability, and biotechnology. She studied Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, later completing her MSc and PhD in Bioinformatics at Pompeu Fabra University, with further training at the University of Cambridge, Pfizer, and the University of Bayreuth. In 2024, she received a €1.5M ERC Starting Grant for ATHENA, a transparent AI platform for protein design. She has earned several distinctions, including being a finalist at the Prize Princess of Girona, a ‘Leonardo Creators’ Award, and won the L’Oréal-UNESCO 2023 Award.
Lena Barra
University of Konstanz, Germany
Lena Barra obtained her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jeroen S. Dickschat at the University of Bonn in 2018. Thereafter, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Dr. Ikuro Abe at the University of Tokyo. In May 2022 she was appointed to a Tenure-Track professorship for Chemical Biology at the University of Konstanz. Her present research focuses on the discovery of novel enzyme chemistries for biocatalytic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients. A particular focus lies ont the exploration of non-canonical secondary metabolic pathways by combining genomics-driven computational methods with functional, structural, and mechanistic investigations.
NextGenBiocat 