Cynthia Burzell

Cynthia Burzell is Founder and CSO of Aequor, Inc. leading antibiofilm and antifouling research for the past fifteen years. Her research was initially inspired by Dr. J. William Costerton, her mentor who coined the term “biofilm,” and Dr. Ananda Chakrabarty, the first scientist to patent a living organism. She received her Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from St. George’s University. She was an Instructor of Microbiology at St. George’s University School of Medicine, Grenada, for five years, received TechAmerica’s 2009 Abacus Award for Researcher of the Year for discovering a new genus and several new species of marine microbes with antibiofilm/antifouling properties, and has been a featured speaker at international conferences on her discoveries and their importance to control bacteria, fungi, and fouling, including the antimicrobial resistant strains. Dr. Burzell has managed complex projects with DOE, UDSA, and private companies, developing and overseeing work plans with contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs). She has been working with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center to solve the problem of astronaut health caused by biofilm contamination in the reuse/recycling water system used on board the International Space Station and on surfaces in manned spacecraft.