Cynthia Burzell holds a Ph.D. in Marine and Medical Microbiology, is co-Founder and CSO of Aequor, Inc., leading independent antibiofilm and antifouling research for the past fifteen years worldwide. The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) selected Cynthia to provide the definition of biofilm in its Antimicrobial Encyclopaedia.
She 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. Dr. Burzell has managed complex projects with DOE, UDSA, NASA and private companies, developing and overseeing work plans with contract research organizations (CROs) and contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) for product development regulatory approvals and scale-up.
NASA awarded Aequor the iTech Award in the Life Support Category for Cynthia’s breakthrough technologies to control biofilm in Space, where it forms thicker and faster than on Earth. She worked 3 years with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to solve the problem biofilm contamination in the reuse/recycling water system used on board the International Space Station (ISS) and on surfaces in manned spacecraft. Aequor’s products were launched in November 2022 to the International Space Station for use on orbit.