Dr. Leproust serves as CEO and Co-Founder of Twist Bioscience
Dr. Emily Leproust, the CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience, has joined the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
“We are delighted to welcome Emily to the NTI Board,” said Ernest J. Moniz, NTI’s co-chair and CEO. “Emily is a transformative leader. Her pioneering work in synthetic biology and DNA synthesis has laid important groundwork at a time when this technology is rapidly advancing. We are fortunate that Emily and Twist Bioscience have already been involved in several important projects with NTI to help prevent the misuse of DNA technology.”
Dr. Leproust and her colleagues played a critical advisory role in the creation of the Common Mechanism, a DNA sequence screening software package that NTI | bio is developing to prevent illicit gene synthesis. They also provide ongoing support for IBBIS, the new global organization to safeguard modern bioscience and biotechnology that NTI plans to launch in the coming months.
“Synthetic DNA is a two-sided coin. It can be used to enable powerful breakthrough advancements in health, sustainability, and more—but if the proper protocols are not in place, it could also be used by bad actors. Biosecurity has been a priority and woven though our practices and procedures since Twist’s founding,” said Dr. Leproust. “I am honored to be named to the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and to continue supporting the development of standards for DNA synthesis that support research while mitigating misuse.”
As CEO of Twist Bioscience, a synthetic biology and genomics company, Dr. Leproust is working to enable the exponential growth of DNA-based applications. In 2020, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) presented her with the Rosalind Franklin Award for Leadership.
In recent years, Foreign Policy named her one of their 100 Leading Global Thinkers, and Fast Company named her one of the “Most Creative People in Business.” She serves on the Board of Directors of GeneDx and is a co-founder of Petri, an accelerator for start-ups at the forefront of engineering and biology.
About NTI
The Nuclear Threat Initiative is a nonprofit global security organization focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity. www.nti.org
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NTI | bio Vice President Jaime Yassif is one of several dozen senior-level expert signatories on a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) report, “Eight Commonsense Actions for Biosafety and Biosecurity.”
IBBIS was selected as one of 10 initiatives to receive support from the Paris Peace Forum community to accelerate its efforts to strengthen biosecurity norms and reduce risks associated with advances in technology.
Gurpreet Dhaliwal, Askar Kleefeldt, and Alexandra Klein have won the seventh annual Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition.
