Aditi Mankad
Principal Research Scientist (Psychology) and Theme Leader, Advanced Engineering Biology Future Science Platform at CSIRO
Australia
Aditi Mankad
Principal Research Scientist (Psychology) and Theme Leader, Advanced Engineering Biology Future Science Platform at CSIRO
Australia
Robust DNA synthesis screening standards must account for both technical risks and human behaviour. When safeguards align with how people perceive risk, build trust, and make decisions, they become not only effective but also more readily embedded within global human systems. Standards that reflect real‑world behaviour, institutional capability, and public expectations create a biosecurity ecosystem that is resilient, credible, and globally integrated.
Dr Aditi Mankad is a Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO, based in Brisbane within the Sustainability Pathways / Environment division. She also leads the Interdisciplinary Decision-Making theme of CSIRO’s Advanced Engineering Biology Future Science Platform, where her work examines the social, behavioural, and psychological dimensions of biotechnology, biosecurity, and engineering biology.
Trained in psychological science (BPsySc, MSc, PhD), with degrees from The University of Queensland, Purdue University, and The University of Western Australia. Her expertise lies in understanding risk perception, behaviour change, public attitudes, and social acceptability of emerging biotechnologies, including synthetic biology applications, biosecurity threats, and ecological biotechnology interventions.
Through her role, Dr Mankad investigates how populations perceive and respond to biotechnology risks, how social license can be built for novel bio-engineering solutions (e.g. gene drives, biocontrol, synthetic biology), and how decision-making frameworks can integrate both biophysical and socio-economic factors to guide responsible innovation.
Her research supports global-scale considerations for deployment of advanced biotechnologies, offering insight into behavioural drivers, public trust, regulatory acceptability, and societal readiness: qualities that make her perspective vital to discussions on biosecurity, sequence-screening standards, and responsible biotechnology governance.