Industrial Biotechnology, Strain & Process Development for Enzymes, Renewable Fuels & Chemicals, Synthetic Biology, Sugar & Gas Fermentation, CO2 Valorization, Biopolymers

Dan received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Pittsburgh and did fundamental research in bioenergetics at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology and the Johnson Research Foundation at the University of Pennsylvania. He subsequently spent 13 years at Diversa/Verenium as Director/SVP of Enzymology and Biofuels and 8 years at Joule Unlimited as SVP/CSO for the development of a photosynthetic process for fuel production from CO2. The focus in these companies was transitioning technology to product development, including integration of fermentation, recovery and formulation, regulatory permitting, grant preparation and performance, and techno-economic and life cycle analysis to guide process development and scaling. At Diversa/Verenium and Joule, Dan managed strategic partnerships with industry leaders, including BASF, DSM, British Petroleum, and Audi. He has spent the last several years advising biotech startups on process and product development, company growth and grant management, as well as performing diligence for investors and working with law firms as a subject matter expert in patent litigation.  

Dan’s technical expertise spans several disciplines, including carbon metabolism, enzymology, synthetic biology, biocatalysis, sugar and gas fermentation, renewable fuels and scaling of bioprocesses. He has been granted over 25 patents on novel enzyme discovery, gene evolution, strain engineering, and fuel production, and has published 70+ papers on biological energy conservation, enzymology, directed evolution, cellular energy conservation, and membrane transport. Contact Dan.