PRESS RELEASE:

SynBio LEAP Announces 2015 Fellows

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

San Francisco, CA and London, UK- Following a successful pilot, the Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (SynBio LEAP) has awarded 23 Fellowships to an outstanding group of next generation leaders competitively selected for their visions and aspirations for shaping biotechnology for the public good. The Fellowship will begin on February 1 in Washington DC with a set of landscaping meetings exploring the social, economic, technical, and political state of the field.

The 2015 LEAP Fellows come from world-class universities, large corporations, start-up companies, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, national laboratories and community labs. The LEAP Fellowship provides a unique opportunity for them to share knowledge, and develop new skills, for working effectively across diverse social and organizational contexts shaping biotechnology.

Biographies for the 2015 SynBio LEAP Fellows are online at https://www.synbioleap.org/community/fellows/.

Over the next 12 months, and beyond, the 2015 LEAP Fellows will collaboratively develop a set of “Strategic Action Plans” that explore synthetic biology’s impacts and propose ways to advance its positive outcomes. Through a variety of activities, Fellows will examine key challenges in biotechnology development, including governance and oversight, education and accessibility, research and industry growth, and global development.

LEAP’s Executive Director, Dr. Megan Palmer, remarked that “the LEAP Fellows are an inspiring group of individuals committed to exploring not simply what we can do with biotechnology, but what we should do, and their roles in guiding the field’s potentially far-reaching global impacts.”

Dr. James Brown, LEAP’s European Director, agreed and added “As we look to develop pragmatic solutions to the global grand challenges we face this century, it is important we consider not just technical questions, but ask who leads those solutions and what impact they will have on society.”

Supported by a growing network of sponsors including the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the National Science Foundation, Synberc, and Imperial College SynbiCITE, LEAP is an incubator for emerging leaders across disciplines and sectors to develop strategies for advancing biotechnology in the public interest. The year-long, non-residential programs centers on two meetings: a ‘landscaping meeting’ and an immersive ‘leadership workshop’ where Fellows develop Strategic Action Plans that address key individual and community challenges. Fellows are mentored by a world-class network of leaders across sectors and disciplines, and the most promising action plan ideas are awarded Catalyst seed grants to accelerate their development.

For more information on LEAP visit www.synbioleap.org, #synbioleap

Media interested in the LEAP program should contact