Megan J. Palmer

Dr. Megan J. Palmer is Director, iGEM Foundation and Chair, WEF Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology and formerly Senior Director of Public Impact at Ginkgo Bioworks where she led efforts to ensure that biological engineering is developed with care. She is also an adjunct professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University where she previously served as the Executive Director of Bio Policy & Leadership Initiatives, leading programs to explore how biological science and engineering is shaping our societies, and to guide innovation to serve public interests.

Dr. Palmer has led many programs aimed at developing best practices and policies for the responsible development of bioengineering. She co-chairs the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology, and was a member of the Council of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC). For a decade she led social responsibility programs for the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. She also served as Deputy Director of Policy and Practices for the multi-university National Science Foundation (NSF) Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (Synberc). She founded the Synthetic Biology Leadership Excellence Accelerator Program (LEAP) and serves on the board of directors of Revive & Restore.

Dr. Palmer received her Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from M.I.T. and her B.Sc.E in Engineering Chemistry from Queen’s University, Canada.