Bryn Adams | AIChE

Bryn Adams

Branch Chief, Synthetic Biology Tools Branch
Army Research Lab

Bryn L. Adams received a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2009. She first joined a collaborative research project, as a National Academy of Sciences postdoctoral fellow, between DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center (CBC) under Dr. Jay Valdes, and the Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Research at the University of Maryland at College Park under Dr. William Bentley. Her work focused on the development of non-specific threat agent detection using biological sensing and signal transduction pathways. Dr. Adams joined the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in 2011 as an Oak Ridge Associated Universities postdoctoral fellow under Dr. Dimitra Stratis-Cullum, where she conducted research into the development of synthetic molecular recognition agents for biosensing and biomaterials. She converted to a federal civilian research scientist in 2014 and became the Team Leader for the Synthetic Biology Tools and Chassis Team in the Biotechnology Branch in 2018. Dr. Adams was recognized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense for her research efforts in synthetic biology for her research efforts focused on developing synthetic biology tools for non-model host bacteria and bringing synthetic biology out of the laboratory and into the hands of the Warfighter. In 2020, Dr. Adams was invited to participate in a one-year detail assignment to the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where she stood-up the Education and Workforce Development component of the Biotechnology Modernization Priority. Today, Dr. Adams serves as the Branch Chief for the Synthetic Biology Tools Branch in the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences (BBS) Division at ARL since 2022.