Keynote Speaker #2
August 18th
Rodolphe Barrangou, PhD
CRISPR Lab Lead
North Carolina State University
Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor
Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou is a Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Scholar in Probiotics Research at North Carolina State University (NCSU). He received a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Rene Descartes University in Paris, France, a M.S. in Biological Engineering from the University of Technology in Compiegne France, M.S. Food Science from NCSU, Ph.D. in Functional Genomics from NCSU, and MBA, in Executive Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Barrangou has worked on beneficial microbes, focusing on the occurrence and diversity of lactic acid bacteria in fermented foods and as probiotics. Using functional genomics, he has focused on uncovering the genetic basis for health-promoting traits, including the ability to uptake and catabolize non-digestible carbohydrates. Dr. Barrangou spent 9 years at Danisco-DuPont, characterizing probiotics and starter cultures, and established the functional role of CRISPR-Cas, as adaptive immune systems in bacteria. He has focused on establishing the molecular basis for their mechanism of action, as well as developing and applying CRISPR-based technologies for genotyping, building immunity and genome editing.