Gregory Stephanopoulos

Gregory Stephanopoulos is a prominent academic in metabolic and biochemical engineering. His research focuses on biotechnology, bioinformatics, and sustainable biofuel production. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota (1978), M.S. from the University of Florida (1975), and a B.S. from the National Technical University of Athens (1973). He has been recognized with over 30 major awards, including the AIChE Doing a World of Good Medal (2024) and election to the National Academy of Sciences (2023). His work includes groundbreaking contributions to microbial engineering for biofuel production, metabolic pathway optimization, and industrial biotechnology.

Key research areas include metabolic engineering of microorganisms for high-value chemical production, systems biology approaches to cancer metabolism, and sustainable bioprocess design. He led the ARPA-E Grant (2021) to reduce carbon emissions in biorefining and pioneered the use of isotope tracing for metabolic analysis. His lab has engineered strains of Yarrowia lipolytica and Corynebacterium glutamicum for efficient production of biofuels and pharmaceuticals.

Award highlights include the 2019 Gaden Award, 2017 Novozymes Award, and 2016 Eric and Sheila Samson Prize. He served as AIChE President (2015) and holds honorary doctorates from Technical Universities in Dortmund and Athens. His research bridges chemical engineering fundamentals with biological systems, emphasizing translational applications in energy and health.