Jon Judd is a policy researcher working on the governance of emerging biotechnologies. He works on how the United States and its international partners govern access to biological data and oversee dual-use biotechnology as the bioeconomy grows. Biosecurity requirements and open scientific access are usually framed as a tradeoff, and most of what he builds is an argument that they do not have to be. He is a Science Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Engineering Biology Research Consortium.
Current Work
Developing a managed access framework for federal biological data repositories that balances scientific openness with national security mandates, published through the Engineering Biology Research Consortium. [link]
Making the case for community-driven data standards across biofoundries, the automated laboratories that run synthetic biology experiments at scale, published in ACS Synthetic Biology. [In Press]
Supporting international stakeholder engagement to strengthen dual-use research of concern oversight, equitable pandemic preparedness, and biotechnology governance, through meetings, workshops, listening sessions across 18 countries, and working groups.
Organizing a Congressional briefing on biological data governance for the BioTech and Artificial Intelligence caucuses
Recent Writing
Global capacity building for novel gene-editing therapies: Challenges and opportunities
MIT Science Policy Review, 2026
Biofoundry Data Interoperability Requires Community Action
ACS Synthetic Biology, 2026. [In Press]
Your DNA, Your Data: Preventing Genetic Discrimination in the Growing Bioeconomy
Federation of American Scientists Day One Project, 2026
Securing the U.S. Bioeconomy: A Managed Access Framework For Biotechnology Innovation
Engineering Biology Research Consortium, 2026