Dr Jenny Molloy

Senior Research Associate
Co-Chair, Engineering Biology Interdisciplinary Research Centre

Contact information

jcm80@cam.ac.uk

07787445330

Department Of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Philippa Fawcett Drive
Cambridge
CB3 0AS
United Kingdom

Biography

I am a Senior Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and a Group Leader at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). My work involves developing open-source technologies for engineering biology and biomanufacturing. Before this, I served as the Programme Coordinator for the University of Cambridge Strategic Research Initiative in Synthetic Biology and the OpenPlant Synthetic Biology Research Center. I have undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences (Zoology) from the University of Cambridge and a DPhil in Zoology from the University of Oxford, focusing on the genetic control of dengue mosquitoes.

I am a former Fellow and Member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology. Since 2015, I have co-founded four social enterprises and nonprofits, working to make open-source tools more accessible to researchers and building communities for open-source tool developers. Currently, I sit on the board of the US non-profit Open Science Hardware Foundation, the UK non-profit Beneficial Bio, and the Kenyan NGO ISAAA Africenter.

Research interests

I develop open source technologies for engineering biology.

Specifically, my research is centered around local, distributed biomanufacturing of enzymes to enhance capacity for biological research and advance applications in health and sustainability. Ongoing projects include improving protein production and purification processes using synthetic biology-based platform technologies. I also conduct qualitative research, exploring challenges faced by molecular biologists globally through interviews and case studies. Additionally, I am involved in developing CRISPR-based molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases and enzyme-based carbon capture and upcycling.

I am interested in AI for enzyme engineering to develop better catalysts for these health and sustainability applications.

Keywords

Bioinformatics, Computational biology, Policy

Themes

Organisations

About us

The Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery (C2D3) brings together researchers and expertise from across the academic departments and industry to drive research into the analysis, understanding and use of data science and AI. C2D3 is an Interdisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Cambridge.

  • Supports and connects the growing data science and AI research community 
  • Builds research capacity in data science and AI to tackle complex issues 
  • Drives new research challenges through collaborative research projects 
  • Promotes and provides opportunities for knowledge transfer 
  • Identifies and provides training courses for students, academics, industry and the third sector 
  • Serves as a gateway for external organisations 

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