Senior scientist Nathan Hillson has taken on a new role at Twist Biosciences; his last day at Berkeley Lab was February 27. In addition to serving as Biodesign Department Head in the Biological Systems and Engineering (BSE) Division since 2015 and Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) Chief Information Officer (CIO) since July 2025, he was principal investigator for the Agile BioFoundry (ABF) from 2016 on. In the latter role, Hillson led a broad group of scientists and engineers distributed across seven Department of Energy (DOE) national labs towards the development of a public infrastructure to enable industrial biomanufacturing of affordable fuels and chemicals. He holds six patents and in 2013 received a Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in Technology Transfer.

Chris Petzold, a staff scientist in the BSE Division, has taken on two new roles: He will serve as the Biodesign Department Interim Head in the BSE Division and CIO of JBEI. 

Petzold’s expertise lies in bridging high-throughput analytical technologies with advanced metabolic engineering to enable the rational design and optimization of novel biosynthetic pathways. He earned his PhD in chemistry from Purdue University with an emphasis in gas-phase ion chemistry and mass spectrometric methods development. He then completed his postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley focusing on the application of mass spectrometry to glycomics and lipidomics research. 

Petzold joined the Keasling research group in 2005 to lead efforts in understanding the systemic impacts of metabolic engineering on host microbes. In his leadership roles within JBEI, Deputy Vice President of Technology and director of Functional Genomics, Petzold’s focus has been on developing mass spectrometric solutions to the complex challenges of biofuel and bioproduct manufacturing. 

As Interim Biodesign Department Head, Petzold will represent scientists focused on the development of basic science discovery and technologies to enable the biomanufacturing of fuels, chemicals, and materials. As CIO of JBEI, his focus will be on driving innovation and adoption of emerging technologies, including leading initiatives involving automation, data management for artificial intelligence/machine learning efforts, and data analytics.

Katy Christiansen, Biosciences Area Deputy for Science, will serve as the lead PI for the ABF. She is the head of the Area’s Biosciences Program Development Group and also represents Berkeley Lab as a Laboratory Relationship Manager to the DOE’s Alternative Fuels and Feedstocks Office (AFFO), formerly known as the Bioenergy Technologies Office. 

Christiansen first joined the Lab in 2008 as a postdoctoral researcher at JBEI. After two years as a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at DOE, she returned to the Biosciences Area in 2014 to help lead strategic planning efforts, which resulted in direct funding from DOE that established the AFFO-supported ABF.