Joan Sebastián
Gallego Murillo

Meatable (NL)

Bioprocessing scientist • Feb, 2024 — Aug, 2024

Bioprocessing senior scientist (Feb, 2024 — Aug, 2024):

• Led 3 cross-functional teams (3-7 members each) working on bioprocess development for proliferation and differentiation of animal cell lines in suspension, and its scale-up to larger scale bioreactors (up to 50 L) for efficient cultivated meat production.
• Led the integration of media cost reduction strategies delivered by the Media & Ingredients team to the existing bioprocess, leading to a 10X decrease in manufacturing costs.
• Trained and supervised 2 MSc. students doing their internship projects in the company.

• Developed a scalable (from 3 L to 40 L of broth) biomass harvesting method, and tech- transferred towards an external party (Singaporean CDMO).
• Developed a perfusion cultivation system that allowed to increase cell densities by a factor of 14-20X (to 80 g wet biomass/L) compared to existing fed-batch cultures.
• Implemented Process Analytical Technology (PAT) tools for the upstream process, including continuous cell density and metabolite measurements.
• Developed documentation templates (batch record) for metabolite data of all bioreactor cultures in the company, which was then used to drive the optimization of feed media recipes and feeding profiles.

Sanquin Blood Supply & Delft University of Technology (NL)

PhD Candidate • Nov, 2017 — Nov, 2023

Collaboration project between the Department of Hematopoiesis at Sanquin, and the Bioprocess Engineering section at TU Delft aiming to scale-up the production of cultured red blood cells for transfusion purposes.

• Scaled-up human erythroblast cultures from culture dishes (10 mL) to 500 mL and 3 L stirred tank bioreactors.
• Developed a perfusion cultivation method using acoustic cell retention, leading to a 5X increase in maximum cell concentrations.
• Determined nutrient requirements of cultured human erythroblasts using a metabolomics approach.
• Reduced culture medium cost (-35%) replacing transferrin by a low-cost organic iron chelator.
• Participated in the translation of the developed upstream protocols to a new GMP facility for the large scale production of cultured red blood cells (Sanquin’s Laboratory of Cellular Therapies).
• Supervised 6 master students during their thesis, and a lab technician.
• Collaborations with Applikon Biotechnology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and VU Amsterdam (Systems Biology Lab).
• Teaching assistant for BSc and MSc courses (Chemical Biotechnology; Numerical methods, modeling and simulation techniques; Integrated Biotechnology Practicum).

BioscienZ (NL)

Bioprocess Technology Intern • May, 2017 — Sep, 2017

• Screened fungal strains for the production of microbial animal feed, based on high biomass yield, ability to grow on a wide range of carbon sources, tolerance to low pH and high temperature, and high protein content.
• Cultivated selected strains on 10 L stirred tank reactors and 12 L bubble column under batch and fed-batch modes.
• Optimized dewatering conditions for improved processing of biomass (filtration, pressing and fluid bed drying).
• Internship results ultimately led to the patent EP3497203A1 (co-inventor).

Delft University of Technology (NL)

Researcher as Master Student • Aug, 2016 — May, 2017

Work for the Master End Project, in the Industrial Microbiology (IMB) research group. Work under the supervision of Jean-Marc Daran and Anja Brickwedde.

• Constructed several Saccharomyces strains for the characterization of sugar transporters relevant to beer production.
• Characterized the constructed strains under different temperature and substrate compositions using microplate and shake flask assays.

Universidad de los Andes (CO)

Graduate Research Assistant • Aug, 2013 — Aug, 2015

• Assisted the MSc. end project Changes in pH during water freezing and thawing, and their relationship with atmospheric electricity" (Salazar-Henao JS) both in laboratory experiments and data analysis.
• Performed statistical and spatial analysis of the polar atmospheric ozone concentration profiles, relating them with stratospheric anticyclones in middle latitudes.

Carnegie Mellon University (US)

Visiting Scholar • Jan, 2012 — May, 2012

Research work in the Civil Engineering Department under the supervision of Kelvin Gregory on the environmental effect of nanoparticles. I investigated the interactions between nanoparticles (titanium oxide, silver) and dissolved organic matter, and their toxicology mechanism at the microbial level using techniques such as HPLC, atomic absorption spectroscopy, and toxicity assays.

Universidad de los Andes (CO)

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant • 2008 — 2013

Teaching assistant of six courses in the departments of Chemical Eng., Environmental Eng., and Microbiology (Genomics and bioinformatics, Unit operations, Wastewater treatment, Hydraulics, Modeling and numerical analysis, and Algorithmic and object-oriented programming).

• Designed assignments, quizzes and exams according to the curriculum of the courses.
• Conducted weekly practical lessons and discussion sessions for 20-60 students.
• Assisted in the standardization of the grading system of some courses according to the requirements for the ABET certification.

Delft University of Technology (NL)

PhD. Bioprocess Engineering • Nov, 2017 — Nov, 2023

Tesis: "Upstream process development for cultured red blood cell production" available here.

Delft University of Technology (NL)

MSc. Life Science & Technology • Aug, 2015 — Aug, 2017

• Followed the two tracks Biochemical engineering and Cell factory. The latter is focused on metabolic engineering and molecular biology techniques.
• Cum Laude graduate (GPA 8.9/10.0).
• Honours Programme (more information available here).

Universidad de los Andes (CO)

BSc. Chemical Engineering • 2009 — 2013

Cum Laude graduate (GPA 4.6/5.0).

Universidad de los Andes (CO)

BSc. Environmental Engineering • 2008 — 2012

GPA 4.6/5.0.

Programming languages

MATLAB (advanced), Julia (intermediate), R (intermediate), Python (basic), Java (basic).

Engineering software

COMSOL, M-STAR, SuperPro Designer, Aspen Plus, Aspen HYSYS, GAMS.

Other software

FlowJo (flow cytometry), Lucullus (recipes for reactor cultivations), MetaboAnalystR, Minitab, CloneManager.

Laboratory

Mammalian cell culture of suspension- and aggregate-based cell lines, cultivation in stirred tank bioreactors (0.2 L – 50 L), flow cytometry, microplate-based growth assays, molecular biology techniques for construction of E. coli and Saccharomyces strains, western blots, HPLC, atomic absorption spectroscopy.

Languages

Spanish (Native), English (TOEFL iBT 113/120), Dutch (A2).

Top 3 Best Sanquin PhD theses of 2023

Sanquin Research • 2023

Internal Sanquin event (Nov. 24, 2023).

Justus & Louise van Effen Excellence Scholarship

Delft University of Technology - Faculty of Applied Sciences • 2015 — 2017

Full tuition scholarship. More info available here.

BSc end project with distinction in Chemical Engineering

Universidad de los Andes • 2013

“Identification of enzymes with a potential application in the degradation of pollutants using a metagenomic library from High Andean forest soil”. Advisors: Andrés González, Johanna Husserl. Available here.

BSc end project with distinction in Environmental Engineering

Universidad de los Andes • 2011

“Design and implementation of a mathematical model of the sylvatic cycle of Chagas disease transmission in Colombia”. Advisors: Juan Cordovez. Available here.

“Quiero Estudiar” Scholarship

Universidad de los Andes • 2008 — 2013

• Live coding (audio)
• Tarot iconography
• Electric bass

• Iacono G, Abay A, Gallego Murillo JS, Aglialoro F, Yağcı N, Varga E, Bijlsma T, Sohler J, Reisz JA, Argabright A, D’Alessandro A, Svendsen AF, von Lindern M, van den Akker E. “Differentiating erythroblasts adapt to mechanical stimulation by upregulation of cholesterol biosynthesis via S1P/SREBP-induced HMGCR expression”. Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 4;14(1):30157. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-81746-8.
• Gallego-Murillo JS, Iacono G, van der Wielen LAM, van den Akker E, von Lindern M, Wahl SA. “Expansion and differentiation of ex vivo cultured erythroblasts in scalable stirred bioreactors”. Biotechnol Bioeng. 2022 Nov;119(11):3096-3116. doi:10.1002/bit.28193.
• Gallego-Murillo JS, Yağcı N, Pinho EM, Wahl SA, van den Akker E, von Lindern M. “Iron-loaded deferiprone can support full hemoglobinization of cultured red blood cells”. Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 28;13(1):6960. doi:10.1038/s41598-023-32706-1.
• Simionato G, Rabe A, Gallego-Murillo JS, van der Zwaan C, Hoogendijk AJ, van den Biggelaar M, Minetti G, Bogdanova A, Mairbäurl H, Wagner C, Kaestner L, van den Akker E. “In vitro erythropoiesis at different pO2 induces adaptations that are independent of prior systemic exposure to hypoxia”. Cells. 2022 Mar 23;11(7):1082. doi:10.3390/cells11071082.
• Brickwedde A, Brouwers N, van der Broek M, Gallego-Murillo JS, Fraiture JL, Pronk JT, Daran JMG. "Structural, physiological and regulatory analysis of maltose transporter genes in Saccharomyces eubayanus CBS 12357T”. Front Microbiol. 2018 Aug 10:9:1786. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.01786.
• de Laat W & Gallego Murillo JS. "Single cell protein from thermophilic fungi". Patent EP3497203A1. 2017.

19^th Mexican Congress of Biotechnology and Bioengineering • Oct 2021

Oral presentation — Scale-up of the ex vivo production of red blood cells for transfusion purposes.

13^th European Congress of Chemical Engineering and 6^th European Congress of Applied Biotechnology (ECCE & ECAB) • Sep 2021

Oral presentation — Scale-up of the ex vivo production of red blood cells for transfusion purposes.

8^th Conference on Metabolic Pathway Analysis • Aug 2021

Oral presentation — Metabolic profiling of cultured erythroblasts for the large scale production of red blood cells.

International Society for Stem Cell Resarch (ISSCR) Annual Meeting • Jun 2021

Poster presentation — Upscaling of ex vivo production of red blood cells for transfusion purposes.

Applikon Webinar Series • Sep 2020

Oral presentation — From cell biology and modelling to technology for high cell density cultivations of erythroblasts.

Scientific discussions on Clinical Hematology • Oct 2019

Oral presentation — Upscaling the ex vivo expansion of erythroblasts.

15^th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society • Jun 2019

Poster presentation — Metabolomics analysis reveals depletion of key intermediates in oxidative stress-related pathways in high cell density erythroblast cultures.

Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (BioSB) Conference • Apr 2019

Poster presentation — Metabolomics analysis of high cell density erythroblast cultures9: small molecules trigger cellular oxidative stress.