Itnan Vargas Venegas

2022/2023 Kirchner Food Fellow
Costa Rica Fellows

Itnan is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology Engineering at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica. His work in the Bacteriology Laboratory of the Biotechnology Research Center at his university has allowed him to discover the potential natural resources and microorganisms have to provide sustainable solutions to recurring problems facing humanity.

In 2022, he participated in the most important synthetic biology competition, iGEM, as coordinator of human practices for the Costa Rican team, obtaining the first gold medal for his country. This competition leads Itnan to approach different companies from all over the world to learn about their social impact, as well as their needs and possible solutions.

Itnan’s experiences during his studies allowed him to understand the close relationship between academia, industry, and society. His dream is to serve as the bridge between academia and industry, aiming to strengthen this relationship to find innovative, sustainable, and sustainable and with social impact solutions. Itnan’s academic interests include interdisciplinary work, entomology, microscopy, synthetic biology, bioinformatics, data science, bacteriology, and projects that contribute to the emergence of new circular economies around the world.