Capone Learning Auditorium (CBEB 001)
10:35am
Todd M. Przybycien, PhD, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, received undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and in chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis and Masters and PhD degrees in chemical engineering with a minor in biology from Caltech. Todd started his professional career with Monsanto Agricultural Company where he worked in downstream bioprocess development for recombinant somatotropins about two years. He then launched his academic career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he worked for eight years, followed by another twenty years at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a faculty member in the Chemical Engineering Department and the Founding Head of the Biomedical Engineering Department. In Fall 2018, he returned to RPI. In Summer 2025, he became the Department Head.
Todd’s primary research interests are in the downstream manufacturing (purification) of biotherapeutics. His group develops new separation unit media, operations, and processes for recombinant protein, mRNA and virus manufacture, with a particular focus on continuous processing. His group also develops antibody-drug conjugate surrogates and virus surrogates to support process development and validation. This work relies heavily on the application of biophysical, colloidal and interfacial sciences to establish structure-function-processing relationships for biotherapeutics that aid the design and operation of bioprocesses. This includes the connection of solubility, conformation/denaturation, aggregation and adsorption phenomena to macroscopic, process-level behavior.
Todd is active in the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biologicals and has held elected and appointed leadership positions in each organization. He recently served on the National Academies’ Committee on Identifying Innovative Technologies to Advance Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, a committee commissioned by the US Food and Drug Administration to help it prepare for new biomanufacturing technologies that may be included in future new drug approval applications. He has been recognized with a Career Award from the National Science Foundation, an Early Career Award from the faculty of Rensselaer, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award from the Dreyfus Foundation, the James Van Lanen Distinguished Service Award from the Division of Biochemical Technology of the American Chemical Society, an Erskine Fellowship from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.
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