Engineering

Bryan Berger speaks at U Ask, UVA Answers

October 2, 2026
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The U Ask, UVA Answers series continues in October with Bryan Berger at the downtown Jefferson-Madison Regional Library on the second Sunday of the month, October 11th, at 2pm. Berger will also speak at the Crozet Library on the second Wednesday of the month at 6pm, on October 21st.

Bryan Berger is in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and his research is around forever chemicals and innovations in biotechnology aimed at improving the quality and safety of our food.

Watch the video below to learn more about his work:

Fall speakers:

October: Bryan Berger: Innovations in biotechnology aimed at improving the quality and safety of our food

  • Downtown Library – October 11, 2026 – 2pm
  • Crozet Library – October 21, 2026 – 6pm 

November: G. Wilson Miller and Natasha Diba Sheybani: Focused Ultrasound Treatment for Cancer

  • G. Wilson Miller: Downtown Library– November 8, 2026 – 2pm
  • Natasha Diba Sheybani: Crozet Library – November 18, 2026 – 6pm

Video Transcript:

I’m Brian Berger. I’m a professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia. We develop biotechnology-based solutions, and we apply those to solving really important environmental and health challenges. I think there’s a lot of really interesting things that hopefully people will come away with understanding.

I think one is kind of the ubiquitousness of PFAS and forever chemicals in our food, water, and soil, and kinda how pervasive the challenge is, as well as ways to try and mitigate, uh, exposure to PFAS. So coming away with a better understanding of what they are, what their risks are, ways that you can kinda manage that risk, I think that’s a really important thing I want people to come away with an understanding of.

I think another one is just the understanding of how useful biotechnology can be to solving some of these important environmental challenges. The apples are kind of a, a great example of that, where we’re using antibiotics on apple trees right now, and there are ways that we can use biotechnology to come up with much more safe and effective solutions.

I look forward to speaking both at the downtown library and the Crozet Library, uh, and these events are in October.