Kate Willis-Ureña

PhD Student @IgneaGroup @mcgillu || prev. @hemoalgaecr 🧫🌱🧬

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

Excited to share my first review! 🌿 @TrendsinBiotech @IgneaGroup

https://t.co/p0JQCnD5h5

[Trends in Biotechnology @TrendsinBiotech]

Online now: Bioengineered yeast for preventing age-related diseases https://t.co/cYr1UVg7x0

[Codruta Ignea @codrutaignea]

I'm delighted to share that our review on bioengineering yeast for preventing age-related diseases has been published, and I'm especially proud of my talented students for their contribution to this work.

[iGEM Community @iGEMCommunity]

I’m Kate, one of your iGEM Ambassadors, and I’ll be taking over the iGEM Community X/Twitter this Jamboree! Meet me at the Community Park! 💚

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

I know I’m not alone in saying that Majo is a huge inspiration! Muchísimas felicidades @majo__duran ���🫶

[Majo Duran @majo__duran]

Met most of you during my time in SF, arriving with nothing but motivation and passion for science. I gave it my all, and I still can’t believe where it’s taken me!

In 6 years, I became the first Latin American who studied in LATAM to reach MIT Bioengineering. The dream begins❤️‍🔥

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

Just started, join now!! 💚

[iGEM Community @iGEMCommunity]

The first session of the iGEM IberoAmerica Info Session has started!

You can access the session by registering here
https://t.co/1vNnHJvzFx

The first session is being conducted in Spanish.

If you want to learn more about iGEM and synthetic biology, join us and our guests!

[Ayan @ayanobacter]

Synbio is serious, but its also a space to imagine and realize beautiful seemingly fictional futures

In Henry Grant Dart's 1911 piece 'We'll All Be Happy Then,' he shows a future of 'Opera delivered to your door', robot service, and live news

What synbio future do you envision?

[Subaita @subaita_rahman]

I'm often asked how I broke into biotech VC as an undergrad, here's how I did it.

VCs look for these three things:

1) ability to connect others to opportunities/jobs
2) creating network effects within your own network
3) access to high potential individuals + ability to pool knowledge

These areas translate into roles that VCs often hire for such as scouting or community roles. For undergrads - building communities is the easiest and most high value way to break in. Growing and maintaining a network is a skill.

Other types of roles ranked by how easy it is to get in:

Content / writing - VCs often have dedicated content teams to push out pieces that they want founders to know or thesis on areas they want people to build in

Scouting - difficult if you don’t already have a deep network where people are starting companies relatively often

Venture associate roles - highly competitive, VCs usually don’t hire undergrads for VA roles and only PhDs but exceptions can always be made

Biotech Investing - probably the least accessible to undergrads. almost every person doing full time investing has a masters at the minimum, or are/eventually pursuing graduate degrees. there is a shift these days though!

Ways they hire:
1) you convince them to by having access to networks they don’t have access to and regularly be around high potential individuals or founders
2) they are looking for someone and you serendipitously are in the right place + time

How to be in the right place/time?
1) find good mentors
2) imbed yourself in core circles
3) make sure it's truly a fit for you ie. if you want to help build a biotech company, don't do vc.

How to naturally fall into VC: https://t.co/dTbxwRZ2Ge

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

Some of the most creative people in the world are pursuing STEM careers 😳 (my fave is overloaded atm!!)

[Michael Trịnh @MichaelTrinh18]

We out on Spotify, thank you for everyone supporting this first project ❤️

https://t.co/4qUawnexRT

We’ll be back shortly with our biotech programming 🤓🧬

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

I’m beyond excited to be supporting iGEM in Latin America as an Ambassador this year!💚
#iGEM #iGEM2024 #iGEMCommunity

[iGEM Community @iGEMCommunity]

Our iGEM Ambassadors are preparing to support your 2024 iGEM journey, bring synthetic biology to you and share your regional synbio progress and development with the world!

Stay tuned to this space to meet your regional Ambassadors!

https://t.co/9wlBWqtayZ

#iGEM2024

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

Congratulations!! 🥳 In the 20th year of iGEM, @igemmcgill is showing the world how far it’s come!

[Codruta Ignea @codrutaignea]

I am beyond proud of our McGill iGEM team, who won the Grand Prize, Best Therapeutics Project, Best Part Collection and Best Presentation Special Prizes in the undergrad category of #iGEM2023 competition. Well done all! Together, we can do it!
@McGill_Eng @BioengMcGill

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

@majoduran__ me inspira tanto!! 🇨🇷 emocionada por escucharla en el nuevo episodio de Biofounders

[Sofia Sanchez @SofiasBio]

(🎙️,🧬) Nuevo episodio con @majoduran__ : investigadora en @UCSF 🌁, @iGEM'er y @CompoundFoods de corazón ☕, graduada del @Teccr 🇨🇷!

Majo, inspiras a la siguiente generación de biotecnólogos en Latinoamérica! :D
https://t.co/S84qxRM4IJ

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

So proud of you Ale!! 🌟

[Simonetta Gribaldo @SGribaldo]

The EBMC team @institutpasteur is growing! Today we welcome two new members @Cha_2_26 @luisalechaves, who will move forward our knowledge on #envelope #evolution in #Terrabacteria and walled #Archaea. Here Charlène et Alejandro each pointing at their favorite bugs in the #ToL 😌

[Codruta Ignea @codrutaignea]

Our latest review on Engineering yeast for the production of plant terpenoids using synthetic biology approaches is now published in Natural Product Reports https://t.co/2iS3lfturS

[Ashton C Trotman-Grant @ATrotmanGrant]

Lastly, an open-source project for the community.

We've partnered with @dqgorelick to create a musical instrument from DNA. Got any plasmids? Want to “translate” your personal genome into a song?

Check this out:

[@drewendy.bsky.social @DrewEndy]

Know anyone curious about 21st century bioengineering? Prof. Jenn Brophy (@jennbrophy7) & I are sharing ~40 videos comprising most of Stanford's introductory bioengineering course:  
https://t.co/sxgIAFg5Ov We'll push updates; feedback welcome #bioe4all #2xplaybackftw

[Vernadsky’s diatoms @DiatomAppSoc]

Stunning arrangement of diatoms by Emiliano Bellotti 🔬DIC 📷 by me

[Nature Communications @NatureComms]

Some bacteria produce cholesterol

In your face, eukaryotes! 😆

@PaulaWelander @stanforddoerr @Stanford

https://t.co/iBtnJIgBmA

[Maria Astolfi @synbiomaria]

Vamanos LATAM! 🌎🧬🌱 @SynBioBeta Growing Latin America amazing panel moderated by the one & only @ADNDaniel! 💚

[Ashton C Trotman-Grant @ATrotmanGrant]

Games are the ultimate storytellers.

#Synbio, the art and science of programming life, shapes our world through epic transformations.

🧬���🦠💊🌱🪵🌎

Join me in exploring these ideas through immersive games and simulations.

Introducing Karyo Studios, my new startup.

[Kate Willis-Ureña @katewillisurena]

So excited to be at SynBioBeta!! Let’s gooo 🧫🧬🧪 @fiftyyears

[Fifty Years @fiftyyears]

Instructions to play below! 2 winners will enjoy:
• 1-year @BioRender subscription 🎨
• 20 free @PrimordiumLabs sequences 🧬
• 2023 @iGEM Jamboree ticket 🦠
• Edible @GeltorInc bioengineered collagen 🧫
• @ZeroAcreFarms fermented cooking oil 🍳