Making an impact at NextGenBiocat
Following their attendance at the recent NextGenBiocat symposium, HydRegen’s Chief Scientific Officer, Sarah Cleary, and Product Development Specialist, Jack Allman, share their thoughts on some of the key takeaways and highlights from the event.
Organised by young researchers from European Universities, NextGenBiocat aims to bring fellow researchers, PhD candidates, postdocs and early-career principal investigators together to promote and discuss their research in the field of biocatalysis and the investigation of the function of enzymes.
Jack – “This was my first in-person, academic conference and it was great to be in an environment with people from all around Europe and beyond, who seemed equally as passionate about innovative research and sustainability as myself. It was great to meet so many people that work in really interesting fields and research sectors.”
As well as the opportunity to showcase some of the latest research, the symposium gives participants a chance to discuss ideas, create or reinforce collaborations, and share career experiences. Over the two-day event there were a broad range of lectures available covering topics such as Protein Engineering with Machine Learning, Engineered Metalloproteins as Artificial Biocatalysts and How to Build a Biocatalysis Laboratory from Scratch.
Sarah – “I found the lectures to be really inspiring. Some of the talks led me to new ideas for HydRegen technology applications, and others showed really important advances in the biocatalysis field, such as using computational methods as a way to investigate reaction mechanisms.”
Jack – “The lectures were a real learning opportunity, and I enjoyed seeing how other biocatalysts compare with ours in terms of selectivity. I was also excited to see that many of the speakers were using enzymes that are dependent on cofactors other than NAD(P)H, showing how wide the scope is for biocatalysis.”
Not only did the HydRegen team come away from the event with new ideas, new connections, and new aspirations, they also achieved a poster prize!
See poster at the bottom…
Jack – “It was really great to see how many people at the poster session were interested in our HydRegen technology. I answered various different questions about H2 production, mainly regarding the safety and convenience when using it to power our catalyst, both in batch and continuous flow. I was pleased to be awarded a poster prize sponsored by ChemBioChem, and the experience overall gave me the desire to do more presentations in the future to educate others on the unique work we are doing at HydRegen.”
In addition to making new connections, NextGenBiocat also provided a great opportunity to reconnect with those colleagues and collaborators who have already been a part of HydRegen journey.
Sarah – “The conference provided a great opportunity to reconnect with collaborators and colleagues from my Oxford postdoc who presented on exciting, novel biocatalysis applications, some of which utilised the HydRegen technology!”
With many brilliant scientists, great networking opportunities and inspiring lectures, NextGenBiocat was a successful event that the HydRegen team were very proud to be a part of.
Sarah – “The conference was a great experience for Jack and me, and it was really affirming to see that our technology was embraced by the biocatalysis community. Jack and my conversations with researchers who use NADH-dependent enzymes reinforced that HydRegen could provide them with a clean, simplified alternative to the conventional glucose-driven methods for cofactor recycling.”
The poster!