Speaker Details

Dennis Mayo is a Senior Policy Advisor with the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology. In this role, he led the development of the classified annex to the Commission’s April 2025 Report to Congress and works with Commissioners and staff to develop policy recommendations based on strategic analysis. He previously worked at the Government Accountability Office (GAO), where he provided technical advice to Congress on matters related to AI, chemistry, manufacturing, and national security technologies. He also has held research and development roles for the Department of Treasury and the Department of the Navy, developing new materials for U.S. currency and U.S. munitions, respectively.

Dr. Mayo received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2011 and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from The Ohio State University in 2006. He has authored or coauthored 15 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Dr. Jewett is a Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. He received his B.S. from UCLA and PhD from Stanford University, both in Chemical Engineering. He completed postdoctoral studies at the Center for Microbial Biotechnology in Denmark and the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Jewett was also a guest professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich). His research group focuses on advancing synthetic biology research to support planet and societal health, with applications in medicine, manufacturing, sustainability, and education.

A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, Dr. Cummings was one of the U.S. Navy's first female fighter pilots. She is now the director of Mason's Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC) and a professor at George Mason University. She holds faculty appointments in the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Computer Science departments. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Fellow and recently served as the senior safety advisor to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

Dr. Cummings received her BS in Mathematics from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1988, her MS in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her PhD in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004.

Dr. Tender joined DARPA in January 2023 as a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office. His research interests include developing new methods for user-defined control of biological processes, and climate and supply chain resilience.

Prior to coming to DARPA, Dr. Tender was a principal investigator and led the Laboratory for Molecular Interfaces in the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. There, among other accomplishments, he facilitated numerous international collaborations with key external stakeholders in academia, industry, and government. His highly interdisciplinary research team comprised electrochemists, microbiologists, and engineers and is widely recognized for its many contributions to the field of microbial electrochemistry.

Dr. Tender co-founded the International Society for Microbial Electrochemistry and Technology and is a recipient of the Arthur S. Flemming Award, which honors outstanding federal employees, by the George Washington University's Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley; and served as a visiting scientist in the Stanford University Department of Chemistry. 

Dr. Brooke Ahern is a Research Biologist for the U.S. Army DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center (CBC), and the Lead of the Forward Deployed Biomanufacturing program, funded through the Office of the Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering. As the lead, Dr. Ahern drives innovation within the defense industrial base and field of biomanufacturing, applying current and emerging technologies to the evolving needs of the warfighter in austere environments. She also currently serves as a science and technology subject matter expert in the U.S. Army Plans, Analysis, and Integration Office, where she advises on strategic planning, process improvement and resource management for the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense Program. 

Previous experience includes establishing the Electrophysiology Lab in the Threat Agent Sciences division at CBC. She instituted electrophysiology as a core capability to assess and characterize current and emerging threats, including chemical and biological weapons, and toxins. Dr. Ahern received her B.S. in Neuroscience from Brigham Young University, and her Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Kentucky, with an emphasis on cardiac electrophysiology.