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Professor Karen Polizzi and Mr James Kinross have been appointed as Academic Co-Directors of ImperiaGlobal USA, º£½ÇÉçÇø’s hub in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Academic Co-Directors will steer the next phase of the hub, providing scientific and technological expertise and insight, and growing ImperiaGlobal USA’s networks.  

Wendy Tan-White is Chair of ImperiaGlobal USA's Advisory Council, which brings together world-class researchers, successful founders, deep tech investors, industry leaders and policymakers from across the San Francisco ecosystem.  

In the two years since the launch of the San Francisco hub, ImperiaGlobal USA has hosted twice at San Francisco Tech Week, convened high-level meetings across academia and industry and developed transatlantic partnerships and opportunities.  

The hub develops and consolidates connections between two exciting ecosystems: º£½ÇÉçÇø’s world-class research and innovation in science, medicine, engineering and business, and the dynamism of the Bay Area’s academic, clinical, industrial, entrepreneurial and investment communities. The hub's achievements so far have been possible thanks to the support of º£½ÇÉçÇø’s scientific experts, research and industry partners and our committed Bay Area alumni community.  

Meet Professor Karen Polizzi  

is Professor of Biotechnology in the Department of Chemical Engineering at º£½ÇÉçÇø.  

Karen’s academic background is in biotechnology and chemical engineering. She translates research on biological systems into real-world impact, and her work has led to international vaccine technology transfer, advisory work for spinouts and contributing to policy and regulation, recently around alternative proteins.  

Karen’s expertise in working closely with researchers, industry, policymakers, funders and end users to achieve research translation and impact is central to the work of ImperiaGlobal USA, which connects academia, research, industry and alumni to forge transatlantic cooperation and collaboration.  

As a Maine native and Georgia Tech PhD alum, Karen noted “the United States science and tech community has been an important part of my work for many years and I value being welcomed into the US engineering biology community. I am proud to have contributed to the launch and growth of ImperiaGlobal USA from the very beginning as an Academic Theme Lead, and becoming an Academic Co-Director is a natural next step.”  

“ImperiaGlobal USA is in a unique position to bridge between London and the Bay Area’s research and innovation ecosystems. I want to help Imperiaresearchers and innovators find the right partners, shape strong consortia and identify the investment, infrastructure and expertise needed to turn promising ideas into meaningful collaborations.” 

Karen’s interdisciplinary work also encompasses areas including biosecurity and food systems through her role as Co-Director of the ImperiaCentre for Engineering Biology and Vice Director of º£½ÇÉçÇø’s Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein. Recently, she was part of an Imperiadelegation to New York during United Nations General Assembly week to represent º£½ÇÉçÇø’s new Biosecurity Network of Excellence – showcasing how Imperiaand ImperiaGlobal USA’s work brings together leaders from science, health, AI, biotechnology, industry, government and international organisations.

Meet Mr James Kinross 

is Associate Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, part of º£½ÇÉçÇø’s Faculty of Medicine.  

James describes himself as a “mission-driven clinician-scientist focused on one key question: how can research make a real difference to patients.” Throughout his career, James has built and deployed clinical robotic and AI systems, led a microbiome science group and developed collaborative networks across Imperiaand internationally.  

With a clinical foundation in surgery, James’s research spans the breadth of ImperiaGlobal USA’s academic themes. "I investigate surgical robotics, AI, computer vision, minimally invasive imaging, microbiome science, cancer prevention, synthetic biology, medical devices, extended reality and the translation of emerging technologies into clinical practice.” 

James’s work has brought medical technologies, including surgical robotic systems, to market and his world also involves translating innovations such as extended reality into clinical practice, including in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

“Much of my career has involved bringing different disciplines and sectors together. ImperiaGlobal USA offers the opportunity to do that internationally, building relationships that develop over time rather than one-off collaborations.

“The opportunity for ImperiaGlobal USA is not simply to export Imperiaresearch to California. It is to build durable, two-way partnerships that generate new research questions, accelerate validation and translation, and create opportunities for Imperiastudents, researchers and spin-outs on both sides of the Atlantic.” 

Karen and James join ImperiaGlobal USA alongside the Advisory Council and operations team, who are building transatlantic cooperation through the hub. Find out more about ImperiaGlobal USA.