Strategic Team

The Center of Excellence in Industrial Biotechnology (CoEIB) is under the umbrella of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, a consortium of units that cut across dozens of departments at Penn State. Working in this environment – competing organizational demands, evolving market needs and diversity of perspectives, the CoEIB’s strategic team taps into the unique perspectives of its members to identify and address strategic challenges and opportunities facing the center and its collaborating facilities driving long-term value for Penn State.

Ali Demirci

Professor-in-Charge of the CSL Behring Fermentation Facility; Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering

Daniel Hayes

Director, Center of Excellence in Industrial Biotechnology; Huck Chair in Nanotherapeutics and Regenerative Medicine; Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Yuguo (Leo) Lei

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Faculty Oversight, Sartorius Cell Culture Facility

James Marden

Associate Director of Operations, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Professor of Biology

Wendy Oakes

Associate Director, Center of Excellence in Industrial Biotechnology

Craig Praul

Director of Core Facilities; Genomics Core Facility Director

Beatrice Sirakaya

Director, Bio-Tech Cluster (Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor), Assistant Teaching Professor and Consultant in Biotechnology