SynBioBeta Speaker

Kyle Daniels

Stanford University

Assistant Professor

The Daniels lab uses synthetic biology and machine learning approaches to engineer immune cells with enhanced therapeutic potential. We're especially interested in how receptor structural elements (such as signaling motifs) can be recombined to alter cell state. By studying the flow of information from receptor structure to cell signaling to gene expression to cell state, we hope to repurpose an ancient natural programming language to program cells to user-defined cell states.

Sessions Featuring

Kyle

This Year

Breakout Session

•

3:30 PM

-

4:15 PM

Human Health

Programmable T Cells: Engineering Living Immune Systems

T cells are evolving from targeted killers into fully programmable cellular systems. Advances in synthetic biology, AI-driven receptor design, and genome-scale datasets are enabling immune cells that not only recognize disease, but sense context, compute signals, adapt over time, and execute coordinated responses inside the body. This session brings together leaders across academia and industry to explore how next-generation CAR and TCR design, structural modeling, and large biological foundation models are reshaping immune engineering. Beyond receptor optimization, we will examine logic circuits, combinatorial sensing systems, control layers, and in vivo reprogramming strategies that transform T cells into dynamic therapeutic platforms. As immune cell engineering moves toward off-the-shelf products and in vivo editing approaches, we will address the deeper architectural questions: How do we design cells that avoid exhaustion, function within hostile tumor microenvironments, and maintain safety over time? What does it mean to treat T cells as living software systems? And how do we build programmable immune therapies that are scalable, durable, and globally accessible?

Featuring

Lilly Wollman

Synteny

CEO & Co founder

From growth equity to gen-AI T-cell engineering.

Kyle Daniels

Stanford University

Assistant Professor

Engineering immune-cell “programmable receptors” with synbio + machine learning.

Connor Tsuchida

Azalea Therapeutics

Scientific Co-founder, VP, R&D

Abhishek Singharoy

ASU

Professor

John Robson

BioOra

Managing Director

Deep-tech investor turned CAR-T scale-up leader.

Victoria Mascetti

University of Bristol

Assistant Professor

Stem-cell biologist translating regeneration into real therapies.

Breakout Session

•

3:30 PM

-

4:15 PM

Human Health

Programmable T Cells: Engineering Living Immune Systems

T cells are evolving from targeted killers into fully programmable cellular systems. Advances in synthetic biology, AI-driven receptor design, and genome-scale datasets are enabling immune cells that not only recognize disease, but sense context, compute signals, adapt over time, and execute coordinated responses inside the body. This session brings together leaders across academia and industry to explore how next-generation CAR and TCR design, structural modeling, and large biological foundation models are reshaping immune engineering. Beyond receptor optimization, we will examine logic circuits, combinatorial sensing systems, control layers, and in vivo reprogramming strategies that transform T cells into dynamic therapeutic platforms. As immune cell engineering moves toward off-the-shelf products and in vivo editing approaches, we will address the deeper architectural questions: How do we design cells that avoid exhaustion, function within hostile tumor microenvironments, and maintain safety over time? What does it mean to treat T cells as living software systems? And how do we build programmable immune therapies that are scalable, durable, and globally accessible?

Featuring

Lilly Wollman

Synteny

CEO & Co founder

From growth equity to gen-AI T-cell engineering.

Kyle Daniels

Stanford University

Assistant Professor

Engineering immune-cell “programmable receptors” with synbio + machine learning.

Connor Tsuchida

Azalea Therapeutics

Scientific Co-founder, VP, R&D

Abhishek Singharoy

ASU

Professor

John Robson

BioOra

Managing Director

Deep-tech investor turned CAR-T scale-up leader.

Victoria Mascetti

University of Bristol

Assistant Professor

Stem-cell biologist translating regeneration into real therapies.

Previous Speakers Include