Christina Agapakis

Interests

Synthetic biology, personalized bioenergy, quantum biology, symbiosis, engineered ecologies, science and technology studies, biologically inspired engineering, art, and design.


Education

2006-present
Harvard University
PhD Candidate, Biological and Biomedical Sciences

2002-2006
Yale University
BS, Magna Cum Laude, Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology


Research Experience

2007-present
Graduate Researcher
Silver Lab, Department of Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School
Thesis: Novel platforms for synthetic biology.

2005-2006
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Crews Lab, Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University
Performed pharmacological and biochemical studies of the natural product myriaporone.

2003-2005
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Austin Lab, Department of Chemistry, Yale University
Worked to elucidate the biological function of the Src kinase activation loop.

Summer 2004
Summer Research Intern
Altshuler Lab, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Performed haplotype analysis and single nucleotide polymorphism association studies for genes in the insulin pathway.


Teaching Experience

In Summer 2010
Teaching Fellow, Harvard iGEM

Spring 2010
Teacher for MIT High School Studies Program
Designed and co-taught a five week course on synthetic biology for local high school student enrichment program.

Winter/Spring 2010
Harvard Synthetic Biology Journal Club
Helped to organize and run a biweekly journal club on synthetic biology for Harvard affiliated students and staff.

Summer 2008
Teaching Fellow
International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition
Mentored the Harvard undergraduate iGEM team, whose Bactricity project earned a gold medal and won the prize for Best Food or Energy Project.

Awards

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, 2008
NIH Pharmacological Sciences Training Grant, 2006‐2008
Inducted into ΦΒΚ, Yale Chapter, 2006
Yale-HHMI Future Scientists Fellowship, 2005
Yale College Mellon Undergraduate Research Grant, 2004
Massachusetts Biotechnology Council Scholar, 2002
National Merit Scholarship, 2002


Publications

Agapakis CM and Silver PA. Modular Electron Transfer Circuits for Synthetic Biology: Insulation of an Engineered Biohydrogen Pathway. Bioengineered Bugs, in press.

Agapakis CM, Ducat DC, Boyle PM, Wintermute EH, Way JC, and Silver PA. Insulation of a Synthetic Hydrogen Metabolism Circuit in Bacteria. Journal of Biological Engineering, 2010, 4:3.

Agapakis CM and Silver PA. Synthetic Biology: Exploring and Exploiting Biological Modularity Through the Design of Novel Biological Networks. Molecular BioSystems, 2009, 5: 704‐13.

Florez JC, Sjögren M, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, Almgren P, Lindblad U, Berglund G, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Daly MJ, Ardlie KG, Hirschhorn JN, Altshuler D, Groop L. Association testing of common variants in the insulin receptor substrate-1 gene (1RS1) with type 2 diabetes. Diabetologia. 2007, 50(6): 1209‐17.

Hines J, Roy M, Cheng H, Agapakis CM, Taylor R, Crews CM. Myriaporone ¾ structure- activity relationship studies define a pharmacophore targeting eukaryotic protein synthesis. Molecular BioSystems. 2006, 2: 371‐9.

Florez JC, Wiltshire S, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, de Bakker PIW, Almgren P, Boström KB, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Daly MJ, Hirschhorn JN, McCarthy MI, Altshuler D, Groop L. High-density haplotype structure and association testing of the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) gene with type 2 diabetes in 4,206 people. Diabetes. 2006, 55(1): 128‐35.

Florez JC, Agapakis CM, Burtt NP, Sun M, Almgren P, Rastam L, Tuomi T, Gaudet D, Hudson TJ, Daly MJ, Ardlie KG, Hirschhorn JN, Groop L, Altshuler D. Association Testing of the Protein Tyrosine Phosphatease IB Gene (PTPN1) With Type 2 Diabetes in 7,883 People. Diabetes. 2005, 54(6): 1884‐9.

Videlock EJ, Chung VK, Hall JM, Hines J, Agapakis CM, Austin DJ. Identification of a Molecular Recognition Role for the Activation Loop Phosphotyroside of the Src Tyrosine Kinase. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2005, 127(6): 1600‐1.


Posters, Presentations, and Other Writing

Ancestors and Offspring, (May 2010) Diavlog with John Hawks on Blogginheads.tv.

Agapakis CM, Niederholtmeyer H, Inniss M, Wintermute EH, Noche R, Super M, Way JC, and Silver PA. (March 2010) Towards a synthetic endosymbiosis Poster presented at the Institute for Biological Engineering Annual Conference. PDF

Hydrogen Production in Synechococcus elongatus. (February 2010) Presentation at the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center retreat.

Oscillator, a blog about synthetic biology, biologically inspired design and engineering in principle and in practice. Active since 2009, member of ScienceBlogs.com since 2010.

Agapakis CM. (November 2009) On Failure. Finalist in scientificblogging.com Graduate Student Writing Competition.

Agapakis CM, Boyle PM, and Budin I. (October, 2009) Origins: Synthesizing Life in the Lab. Science in the News lecture at the Harvard Medical School.

Agapakis CM, Wintermute EH, Boyle PM, Savage DF, and Silver PA. (October, 2008) Modular Approaches to Engineering the [FeFe]‐Hydrogenase. Poster presented at Synthetic Biology 4.0 in Hong Kong. PDF

Agapakis CM, Wintermute EH, and Boyle PM. (September, 2008) Fuels of the Future. Science in the News lecture at the Harvard Medical School. PDF


Skills

Molecular biology and biochemistry lab techniques
Python scripting, HTML/CSS
Machine Shop Certified
Fluent Greek, OK Spanish, Beginner French
Sewing, Knitting, Crochet
Digital Video Production

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