BPI Seminar by Dr. Christopher Moraes & Dr. Athanasios Kritharis
October 27, 2026, 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Join this Lunch & Learn featuring BPI Principal Investigator Dr. Christopher Moraes, who recently joined the Institute, and BPI postdoctoral fellow Dr. Athanasios Kritharis, Co-Founder and CEO of Tydra Labs. Through two back-to-back talks, they will explore innovations in mycelium-based composites and the journey of chitin-based biomaterials from laboratory research to commercial application.
Location: CHBE #202, 2360 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4
Agenda
- 12:00 PM Presentation #1 by Dr. Christopher Moraes, Associate Professor, UBC School of Biomedical Engineering
- 12:30 PM Presentation #2 by Dr. Athanasios Kritharis, Co-Founder and CEO, Tydra Labs
- 1:00 PM Closing
Presentation #1 - Controlling Macroscale Material Properties in Mycelium-Based Composites via Micro Engineering Strategies
About the Speaker
Dr. Christopher Moraes is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC and Principal Investigator at ICORD. Chris has bounced around disciplines, having trained in nano, mechanical, biomedical, materials, and chemical engineering. Most recently a Canada Research Chair at McGill University, his research and technical expertise lie at the interface between microfabricated cell culture systems, biomaterials design, advanced imaging technologies, and computational modelling; and he is particularly curious about the role microenvironmental biomechanical forces play in driving disease and development. Recent honours include the McGill Principal’s Prizes for both Outstanding Emerging Researcher, and for Excellence in Teaching.
Presentation #2 - From Lab to Market: Scaling Chitin-Based Biomaterials for Industrial Applications
This talk examines the path from laboratory discovery to industrial-scale reality for chitin-based biomaterials, using Tydra Labs' commercialization journey as a working case study. Dr. Kritharis will cover the technical foundations of chitin as a feedstock. Specifically, how source material (crustacean shell waste, fungal biomass, and other emerging streams) and extraction method shape the purity, molecular weight, degree of deacetylation, and downstream performance of the resulting polymer and its derivatives, including chitosan. The session will then turn to the industrialization challenge: scaling fermentation-based extraction processes while maintaining batch-to-batch material consistency, and the quality-control and characterization standards required to move a biomaterial from bench to market. Particular attention will be given to the regulatory and approval landscape across target applications and how timelines, certification requirements, and end-use specifications differ by sector and shape early-stage R&D decisions. The talk closes with a broader reflection on a challenge rarely addressed in academic training: translating novel scientific discoveries and next-generation biomaterials research into products that survive contact with real markets, where the incentives, milestones, and definitions of "success" diverge sharply from those that govern publication-driven research.
About the Speaker
Dr. Athanasios Kritharis is a biological and chemical engineer specializing in biomaterials and bioprocess engineering, with a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia's Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, where his research centered on fermentation biotechnology, high-density fermentation, and low-cost media design for vaccine manufacturing. A Vanier Scholar and recipient of the Friedman Award for Scholars in Health, he has collaborated with Sanofi and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in Montreal on bioprocess and biomanufacturing platforms, including a patented, low-cost Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) platform. He is currently Co-Founder and CEO of Tydra Labs, where he leads development of a proprietary, feedstock-flexible fermentation process that converts crustacean and food waste into ultra-pure chitin for use in cosmetics, agriculture, and packaging.