Welcome Anjana and Elsa!
We are lucky to host two talented Stanford Bioengineering co-term students, Anjana and Elsa, for the summer
We are lucky to host two talented Stanford Bioengineering co-term students, Anjana and Elsa, for the summer. They worked with Vayu and Shreya as part of their capstone project, and are now continuing, engineering Neurospora for waste to food conversion! Read more here
Goodbye Jaqueline and Shahar
Sad to see our star postdoc Jaqueline and technician Shahar depart for their next adventures!
We are sad to see our awesome postdoc Jaqueline leave, and Shahar as well. Two foundational members who were here from the early days and literally helped build the lab, from the ground up! Good luck in your next steps!
Featured in the Stanford Report!
Our research program was featured in the Stanford Report! Exciting!
Our research program was featured in the Stanford Report! Exciting!
Our review article on Mushroom synthetic biology is out!
Congrats to Peter, Shahar, Deniz, for this amazing contribution! and beautiful figures made by Peter…
So excited to see our review article outlining challenges and possibilities in mushroom synthetic biology finally out! CONGRATS to Peter, Deniz, Shahar for this landmark work.
Work featured by BBC
Thanks for this great feature on our work on waste-to-food conversion!
So grateful to BBC for this awesome feature on our work on waste-to-food conversion. Great job team, and excited for our research to
Welcome Marissa!
Welcome Marissa, our new Life Sciences Research Professional!!!
We are so excited for our latest Life Science Research Professional, Marissa, to join. She is bringing 10+ years of experience with fungi and a deep passion for mycology! Can’t wait to learn from you!
Marissa is an enthusiastic bioscientist from Southern California. Passionate about all things mycology, she uncovered different architectures for the borosins, a family of autocatalytic α-N-methylated RiPPs first found in the jack-o-lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius), during her M.S. thesis work at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She explored high throughput methods, cell-free biosynthesis, and mutagenesis libraries as a train engineer at Zymergen, eXoZymes, and Anthology Biotechnologies. Recently, she worked with Pablo Cruz-Morales at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to expand the molecular toolkit of Exophiala viscosa, and contributed to the basidiomycete strain collection via field sampling. Her favorite mushroom is Entoloma abortivum, a biocontrol basidiomycete parasitizing Armillaria hardwood pathogens and transforming them into the delicious “Shrimp-of-the-Woods”. She enjoys board games, brewing, swimming, and fungal forays. Marissa is excited to support the creation of a universal mushroom bioengineering toolkit here in the Hill-Maini lab!
The future of fungi - podcast!
Vayu featured on the Future of Everything - discussing the Future of Fungi!
Vayu was just featured on the Future of Everything, a science-focused podcast run by legendary professor Russ Altman in Stanford Engineering.
Our work featured in Nature Magazine
So exciting to see our ongoing work on waste-to-food conversion and synthetic biology in fungi featured in Nature Magazine! Shoutout Franklin for taking the photos! Read more here.
Vayu named Searle Scholar!
We are so excited and grateful for this support for our vision to convert waste into food! Read more here!
The Searle Scholars Program supports high-risk, high-reward research across a broad range of scientific disciplines. This year, 207 applications were considered from nominations by 141 universities and research institutions.
Starting in 2026, grants are $450,000 for a three-year term, with $150,000 payable each year of the grant. The Searle Scholars Program is funded through the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust and administered by Kinship Foundation.
Article in Stanford Daily!
Our fermentation festival , where 550 people RSVPd, featuring our chef in residence from Mugaritz, was just featured in the Stanford Daily - fun times!
First lab publication!
We are so excited - our first paper is now publishes. It is a review article about the state of the art and possibilities in waste-to-food conversion. Congrats Braydon (postdoc), Alessandra (postdoc), Franklin (PhD student), Anna-Katharina (incoming PhD student)!!!
Welcome Alessandra!
Our new postdoc has just joined the team, bringing food science and gastronomy expertise to lead our R and D kitchen when it opens this summer!
Our new postdoc has just joined the team, bringing food science and gastronomy expertise to lead our R and D kitchen when it opens this summer! Read her bio below.
Alessandra earned her PhD in Gastronomy Sciences from the Basque Culinary Centre (Mondragon University), where her research explores filamentous fungi as an innovative platform for food development — with applications spanning the food industry and restaurant contexts. She has worked with food-tech startups such as Esencia Foods and NoMy Japan to develop mycelium-based products and alternative proteins, and has collaborated with Michelin-starred restaurants including Azurmendi, Culler de Pau, and Mugaritz.As a Postdoctoral Researcher at Hill-Maini Lab, Alessandra works at the crossroads of bioengineering and gastronomy, using Neurospora intermedia as a tool to transform food waste into, nutritious and delicious foods. Her work sits at the intersection of science, industry, and gastronomy — driven by a deep passion for finding solutions to real-world food challenges. Just as fungi spread through their mycelium, Alessandra is on a mission to spread gastronomy across disciplines around the campus!
Chef in residence program featured in C&EN news!
A beautiful article about our chef in residence program - another one is out! Check it out here.
Check out this beautiful video on the chef in residence program
See the video here. Shoutout to Stanford Arts for capturing the beauty and philosophy of our chef in residence program!
Vayu featured on the Climate Tech Map
Check it out; our PI Vayu was just featured on the Climate Tech Map highlighting the massive commercial and sustainability opportunity in food waste upcycling!
Chef in Residence featured in El Pais
Spain’s largest newspaper just did a nice write up of the first portion of the chef in residence program! Check it out here.
Chef in residence round 1 is done!
We had a blast hosting Mugaritz on campus for part 1 of 2 for their 2025-2026 residency. We did lots of things, and there was some nice media coverage too! Check it out!
We had an amazing time hosting Mugaritz in the lab for three weeks. We stayed busy. The chefs observed us at work in the lab, spent time in the kitchen, hosted fermentation workshops, lectured in classes and faculty meetings, and met diverse faculty from across campus. A huge success. Special shout-out to our postdoc Taylor for bringing this program together and organizing on the ground!
Some exciting media coverage from round 1:
A taste of the future- Stanford Bioengineering
Art & Gastronomy podcast - by Stanford Arts
Feeding families in a warming world - by Stanford SDSS news
How a spanish chef brings gastronomy to Stanford - by Fine Dining Lovers
Top chef joins Stanford bioengineers to rethink sustainable food - by Stanford Report
Chef in residence public talk
The amazing talk presented by Ramon from Mugaritz to the Stanford community, is now available online here!
The public talk presented by Mugaritz, through Bio-X, is now available to the public here. It was amazing, with over 200 people in the audience!
Chef in residence begins!
We were just featured in Fine Dining Lovers as the chef-in-residence program with Mugaritz kicks off on campus!
We were just featured in Fine Dining Lovers as the chef-in-residence program with Mugaritz kicks off on campus!
Outreach: Reddit AMA
Vayu participated in a Reddit AMA answering questions about the present and future of biomanufacturing ! It was awesome!
Our fearless professor Vayu was invited to host a reddit Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) on Reddit! Together with a panel of biotechnology experts spanning a range of industries and areas of expertise, Vayu answered questions related to biomanufacturing and the future of sustainable production!