Kenza S. Ph.D., ir. Microfluidics & Synthetic Biology

Bio-engineer with creative problem-solving approach. I thrive in high-stakes environments that demand operational excellence, and tend to work with multi-disciplinary teams. I received a BSc + MSc in Bioengineering from KU Leuven (Belgium), and a Ph.D. from Concordia University (Canada), developing microfluidics for applications in synthetic biology at the Shih Microfluidics Lab. I worked with the team at Alvea as a clinical product development lead for vaccines and therapeutics. I co-founded Panoplia Laboratories Inc, a non-profit research institute, to develop broad-spectrum antiviral medicines. I’m commited to working on projects that make this world a safer and healthier place: global health / one health, community biology, open science and hardware. I actively support several open science, DIYBio and synthetic biology efforts: Bricobio, SynBio Canada, and iGEM HQ.

Into growing, building, and breaking things when necessary :)

Research interests: synthetic biology, biotech hardware and tools, open science, food security, genetic privacy and global health.

Expertise: drug manufacturing & preclinical product dev (biologics, nanoparticle formulations), microfluidics, scaling startups, biotech tool development.

I’m available for consulting in the following areas:

  • Technical work:
    • Biotech tool development: microfluidics, automation systems, devices, materials, optical systems
    • Drug development: CMC strategy, preclinical team efficiency optimisation, first-in-human strategy for startups
  • Creative work:
    • Data visualisation
    • Scientific illustrations
    • Workshop facilitator
    • Biodesign

Publications

  • Samlali K., Alves C. L., Jezernik M., & Shih S. C. (2022). Droplet digital microfluidic system for screening filamentous fungi based on enzymatic activity. Microsystems & Nanoengineering, 8(1), 123. here
  • Samlali K., Thornbury M., & Venter A. (2022). Community-led risk analysis of direct-to-consumer whole-genome sequencing. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, 100(6), 499-509. here
  • Davis, A. N., Samlali, K., Kapadia, J. B., Perreault, J., Shih, S. C. C., & Kharma, N. (2021). Digital Microfluidics Chips for the Execution and Real-Time Monitoring of Multiple Ribozymatic Cleavage Reactions. ACS Omega, 6(35), 22514–22524. here
  • Samlali K., Stern J., Nduhuura E., (2021). Towards Responsible Genomic Surveillance: a Review of Biosecurity and Dual-use Regulation. Nuclear Threat Initiative. here
  • Little S. R., Perry J. M., Samlali K., & Shih S. C. C. (2020). Chapter 8: Droplet Microfluidics: Applications in Synthetic Biology. In Droplet Microfluidics (pp. 193–222). here
  • Samlali K., Ahmadi F., Quach A. B. V., Soffer G., Shih, S.C.C. (2020). One cell, one drop, one click: Hybrid microfluidic mammalian single-cell isolation. SMALL,16(34), 2002400. here.
  • Ahmadi F., Samlali K., Vo P.Q.S., Shih S.C.C. (2019). An integrated droplet-digital microfluidic system for on-demand droplet creation, mixing, incubation, and sorting. Lab on Chip. here.

Talks

  • Microfluidics: EIMC 2021, SLAS 2020, uTAS 2019
  • Other: Community Biosummit 2021, UNODA

Theses

  • PhD Thesis. Samlali, K. Integrating droplet and digital microfluidics for single cell analysis. 2022. Dept. Electrical and Computer Engineering - Concordia University
  • M. Sc. Thesis. Samlali, K. Development of an EMS based random mutagenesis method of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) R.irregularis DAOM-197198 for industrial applications and mycorrhizal research. 2017. Faculty of Bioscience Engineering - KU Leuven

Patents


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