Sana Malik

Dr. Sana Malik is a Research Associate and Lecturer at the Climate Change Cluster (C3) within the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). She holds a PhD in Biotechnology with a focus on microalgae and cyanobacteria for sustainable biorefineries. Her work addresses critical challenges at the Energy-Water-Environment nexus through innovative research in algae biotechnology and carbon capture.

Dr. Malik's research focuses on developing sustainable biorefinery pathways and optimizing wastewater-based algae systems. She integrates AI and robotics to identify and enhance elite algal strains for industrial and environmental applications. With over eight years of experience, she has advanced wastewater-driven multiproduct biorefineries through cascading extraction approaches, adaptive laboratory evolution, metabolic pathway engineering, and phenomics to unlock algae's potential for carbon-neutral solutions.

Her research outputs reveal a strong emphasis on sustainable biorefinery development, with publications spanning algae cultivation optimization, wastewater valorization, carbon capture, and the production of biofuels and bioproducts. Her work demonstrates a consistent focus on circular bioeconomy principles, integrating environmental sustainability with technological innovation to address climate challenges.

• UTS Early and Emerging Leaders program graduate
• Recipient of multiple national and international fellowships and scholarships
• Active member of the Young Scientists Division of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology

Dr. Malik actively mentors startups through the Deep Green Biotech Hub, manages client and stakeholder projects, oversees research operations, and supervises interns, Honours, and HDR students. She is also involved in funded research projects focusing on adaptive laboratory evolution, AI-enabled phenotyping, multi-omics analysis, and sustainable biorefinery pathways from microalgae and cyanobacteria.