Abstracts & Bios
Leila Strickland, PhD, BIOMILQ
Leila earned her PhD in cell biology from Boston College and was then awarded the Walter V. and Idun Berry Fellowship to fund her postdoctoral research at Stanford University. Her scientific interests have focused on how cells control their behaviors in time and space, examining questions ranging from how a cell knows when and where to divide into two, to how 3 meters of DNA can pack into the nucleus of a single cell. Leila also has a passion for scientific storytelling and spent several years working in the pharmaceutical industry, helping clients persuasively engage their stakeholders by crafting strategic, and robustly supported, scientific communications. As co-founder and CSO of BIOMILQ, Leila currently leads a dynamic team of researchers working to develop technology for the production of human milk outside the body as an option for infant feeding. Having struggled to produce enough milk to breastfeed her own two children, Leila sees a direct connection between supporting new moms and unlocking human potential. BIOMILQ is a seed-stage startup based in North Carolina, currently hiring several technical roles.
Hilde Stenuit, Space Applications
With the ICE Cubes service, we provide open, fast and direct access to space and in particular the International Space Station. The unique environment of the Space Station gives access to microgravity and radiation which are truly interesting for cell-cultured meat and for cellular AgBio at large. The topic of cell-cultured meat is highly relevant for space exploration, but also very interesting to see if the value-added assets of the space environment can help in the related R&D.
My name is Hilde Stenuit, and I am a seasoned research and team leader for Space Applications Services, a company with HQ in Belgium. After a PhD in plasma-astrophysics, I started working with Space Applications Services, as operations specialist for the International Space Station (ISS) and for spacecraft (ATV). Afterwards I supported the European Space Agency in a function of Mission Scientist for the International Space Station, doing scientific coordination and research planning of the complements of ISS science experiments. Now I am using my expertise to guide the users of the ICE Cubes service and to identify high-potential application areas to utilize the space environment.
Scot Bryson, Orbital Farm
Scot is the founder of Orbital Farm, a circular project development firm that is developing closed loop farms to grow food anywhere on earth today and in space tomorrow.
Eugene Boland, Ph.D., Techshot, Inc.
Eugene Boland, Ph.D., Chief Scientist at Techshot, Inc., has over 25 years in laboratory research, with a focus on regenerative technologies. His expertise extends from bioinert metals and ceramics to bioactive polymers and proteins as well as extensive cell culture and bioreactor development. He received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Marquette University and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University after 6 years in cardiovascular medical device field.
He is currently leading a collaborative team managing the Techshot BioFabrication Facility (BFF) aboard the International Space Station. Project goals include development of microphysiological systems, tissue and organ analogs and eventually neo-organ commercialization to support the need for therapeutic transplants. New endeavors into printed food are being undertaken to support NASA’s pivot back to exploration. BFF, as a commercial platform, can be accessed by researchers to unlock key cellular and material relationships made possible through reduced gravity. In addition, he is leading efforts at Techshot to develop biologically-derived inks (mimetic bioinks) to take advantage of the unique capability that microgravity offers in tissue development as well as a system for the induction and expansion of human (or animal) induced pluripotent stem cells in a microgravity environment.
Cellular Agriculture and Nutrition in Space
Dr. Moritz Kompenhans, CellAg Germany
Moritz got in touch with cellular agriculture during his MBA Master’s thesis and consequently joined CellAg Germany as a founding member. Due to his background in Aerospace Engineering, he is particularly interested in CellAg applications for space nutrition and blogs about the topic.
Nate Crosser, Blue Horizon
Nate is the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Blue Horizon, the only omni-stage alternative protein investment company, where he works on early-stage investing and strategic initiatives. Nate is a subject matter expert in alternative proteins, previously working as the Startup Growth Specialist at the Good Food Institute where he drafted the three flagship state of the industry reports on plant-based, cell-based, and fermentation-enabled meat, eggs, and dairy. He is a frequent public speaker, writer of 15+ published articles, author of the eco-biotechnology newsletter, Fifth Industrial.
His article on deep space food can be found here: https://ecotech.substack.com/p/spacefood
Shayne Guiliano, 108 Labs
Shayne is an organic chemist, full-stack software developer, cellular agriculturalist and entrepreneur who has pioneered mammary cell agriculture since 2013 at his startup 108Labs. He believes mammary cell agriculture can make a major impact on human health on Earth and ideally and uniquely suited to support colonization of Mars.
Pascal Rosenfeld, Aleph Farms
Aleph Farms cultivates beef steaks directly from natural animal cells, scaling a process that consumes a fraction of natural resources compared to conventional meat production, while eliminating the need for antibiotics.
Space travel is limited by the ability to produce quality food for our astronauts while travelling, and without resupply. Aleph’s technology can answer this challenge. Our objective is to develop a circular and near-zero resources system on Earth and beyond.
Shahreen Reza, Mission: Space Food
Shahreen Reza is the Founder of Mission: Space Food. Her first start-up, PurifAid, developed cleantech using the byproduct of Scotch Whisky to decontaminate industrially polluted water in Europe, and brought it to the villages of Bangladesh to tackle the arsenic water crisis through adsorption technology. After her company was acquired, she worked as Deputy Head of Global Business for Palantir Technologies, a Silicon Valley start-up focused on big data integration. She studied Finance & Strategy in Sciences-Po, Paris, and holds an MPhil in Counter-Terrorism and Security from the University of Cambridge, and a Bachelors in Philosophy, Russian Literature, and Politics from Trinity College, University of Toronto.
Shayne Guiliano, 108 Labs
The potential impact of mammary cell agriculture on Mars colonization.
Mammary cells living within all astronauts can produce evolution’s Soylent Green – Human Milk. We will discuss the challenges and benefits of developing mammary cell agriculture on Mars for production of whole-human milk molecules as an essential functional food with therapeutic benefits for Mars colonialists.