Mervyn de Souza Ph.D. is a passionate and seasoned business leader with a unique combination of commercial and technical experience, having driven R&D innovation and commercialization of new products. He has been successful at identifying new market opportunities, connecting value delivery with financial success. Mervyn has developed and executed sustainable growth initiatives at Cargill inc., Sensient Technologies, Tate & Lyle and Edlong Flavors. Most recently he served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Ferment.co before joining Ginkgo Bioworks, where he is Senior Director, Business Development. Mervyn does not shy away from challenging the status quo, while focusing on growth opportunities and working cross-functionally to drive win-win outcomes across a wide range of disciplines. He is delighted to be on the advisory board for the FPP meeting in Chicago and have the opportunity to speak about synthetic biology solutions to realize the need for affordable, high quality, sustainable protein production globally.