Shreya and Deniz join the lab!

The awesomeness continues! Shreya and Deniz, who rotated in the lab as part of the Bioengineering PhD program in the winter, are joining our lab full-time! We are so excited that 3/3 of our awesome rotation students who rotated this year have chosen to join the lab. Excited to learn with you for years to come.

Welcome: Alessandra

Our gastronomy vibe just reached a whole new level. We are thrilled to welcome Alessandra Massa, a trained chef and current PhD student in gastronomic sciences at the Basque Culinary Center. Alessandra will be with us for three months working on prototype development for waste upcycling. Somebody get a fire extinguisher: this summer is about to be FIRE!

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Alessandra is a PhD student in Gastronomic Sciences at the Basque Culinary Center (Mondragon University). Her doctoral work focuses on exploring filamentous fungi as sustainable food sources to enhance gastronomic biodiversity. She aims to bridge science and gastronomy by integrating analytical chemistry, microbial biotechnology, sensory analysis, and food product development to find sustainable solutions to the way we eat. She has worked as a teacher of food development and technology at the Basque Culinary Center and as a food scientist at Esencia Foods, a startup focused on developing mycelium-based seafood alternatives. Alessandra has also collaborated on science-driven gastronomy projects in Michelin-starred restaurants such as Azurmendi, Mugaritz, and Culler de Pau, where fermentation is used as a tool to create new products and reduce food waste. Her favorite fungi are Rhizopus oligosporus and Neurospora intermedia, known for their ability to develop rich aromas and textures in novel food products.

Welcome: Braydon

We are excited to add another talented postdoc to our team: Braydon Black, who joins us from the lab of James Kronstad at University of British Columbia. Braydon is making the transition from studying fungal threats towards harnessing fungal potential: in our lab, he will engineer waste conversion by edible fungi. He is funded by the prestigious Accelerator Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.

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Braydon completed his PhD in Microbiology & Immunology at the University of British Columbia under Prof. Jim Kronstad. During his PhD, Braydon uncovered key mechanisms driving metabolic adaptation and virulence of a pathogenic fungus, and developed a suite of molecular tools with potential broad application across fungi. He has also worked as a medical and science writer, developing training materials for biotech and pharma companies. As a Sustainability Accelerator Fellow at Stanford, he is excited to apply his extensive knowledge of fungal molecular biology to develop new approaches for converting food waste into nutritious, delicious, and sustainable fermented foods using filamentous fungi.

Seminar: Nancy Keller

We had the honor of hosting Professor Nancy Keller UW Madison as part of the Bioengineering Colloquium series. We had a wonderful day learning about her research on the ecology and evolution of fungal natural products. A true legend in the field! Thanks for visiting us, Nancy!

Outreach: Stanford Engineering Centennial

We had a BLAST sharing our work at the intersection of fungi, food, and sustainability as part of the “Biotic Future” theme at the Stanford School of Engineering Centennial celebration. Thousands of people attended the event and some of them had the chance to learn about fungal biodiversity and taste some exciting fungal treats! Great vibes all around!

Vayu named 2025-2027 Azrieli Global Scholar

Vayu just was just named a CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, selected as one of 12 winners out of >230 applicants globally. The tenth cohort of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars is ready to tackle important and pressing questions facing science and humanity – from studying the design of safe and trustworthy AI systems to exploring the intricacies of ice and glacier meltwater. This year, 12 emerging research leaders will join the 2025-2027 cohort of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars, marking the prestigious program’s 10th anniversary. Since 2016, the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program has empowered early-career researchers to strive for global impact by supporting opportunities for leadership development and championing bold ideas through deep, interdisciplinary collaboration.

Outreach: Lafayette Library

We had a blast sharing our work with the local Bay Area community at the Lafayette Library and Learning Center in the East Bay! Vayu shared his journey into fungi and food, and AK and Shreya hosted a show and tell showing various fungi and fermented food samples from our lab. Amazing response all around. Recording is found here.

Fermentation Workshop

While we wait for our final R&D kitchen to be designed and constructed, we have gotten access to a temporary fermentation-focused space shared with chef Andrew Mayne of RD&E and the Sonnenburg lab. To kick things off, we hosted an awesome fermentation workshop for students and postdocs on campus. We learned how to make sauerkraut and miso and tasted lots of delicious fermented treats. Huge shoutout to our star student AK, and to Elisa from the Sonnenburg lab, for organizing.

Lab outing to Jasper Ridge

Winter is mushroom season in CA. Our awesome rotation student Shreya brought us to her other workplace, Jasper Ridge, to walk us through the beautiful natural landscape and look for mushrooms. A beautiful time, with lots of fascinating fungi to be found all around. Thank you Shreya!

Seminar: Louise Glass

It was a true honor to host one of the legends in mycology, Professor Louise Glass from UC Berkeley, at Stanford for a packed seminar in front of >50 people. We learned about her groundbreaking work in molecular mycology, including the basis of self-recognition in Neurospora crassa.

Lab outing to NASA Ames

The lab got together to visit NASA Ames Research Center for a full day of space, synthetic biology, and fungi fun. We were hosted by our friends in the Rotschild lab who showed us the latest in microbial engineering for interplanetary travel and more!

Seminar: Pablo Cruz-Morales

We were so excited to host our friend and awesome fungal natural products scientist, Pablo Cruz-Morales, for a packed seminar on campus! Over 50 people showed up to learn about how fungi can save us from the climate apocalypse! Thanks for coming all the way from Denmark and sharing your awesome work, Pablo.

Welcome: Jaqueline

We are so excited to welcome our first postdoc, Jaqueline, to our lab, who joins us from Denmark. She brings over 10 years of experience working with filamentous fungi and genetics. She will work on our project funded by mCAFEs: engineering plant-associated fungi for microbial rhizosphere control and plant growth and resilience. An honor to have you on the team!

Jaqueline was born and raised in the beautiful landscapes of Mato Grosso, Brazil. She received her PhD in Molecular and Morphofunctional Biology from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) and has extensive experience in the genetic engineering of fungi to produce recombinant enzymes. Her PhD research investigated the impact of post-translational modifications and protein quality control on the activity and secretion of enzymes in Aspergillus nidulans. During this time, she also collaborated with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) to engineer Aspergillus strains for human protein production. More recently, as a Metabolic Engineering Researcher at UpDairy, she developed microorganisms as cell factories for dairy production. In the Hill-Maini Lab, she is excited to build genetic tools to characterize the mechanistic and molecular interactions between Trichoderma atroviride and bacteria within the plant microbiome. Outside the lab, she is passionate about nature, traveling, fishing, and fungi.

Welcome: Shreya, Deniz, Adrian

We are excited to host our first set of rotation students from the Bioengineering PhD program (Shreya, Deniz), who will be with us for the winter quarter. We are also excited to welcome Adrian Gardar Lopez as a visiting PhD student from the Cruz-Morales lab at DTU Biosustain, who will be with us for the next three months (Jan-April). They will all work on our new project developing and applying synthetic biology tools in edible mushrooms.

Welcome: Peter!

We are excited that our first PhD student has joined the lab: Peter Allen from the Stanford Biology Program. Peter has a background in mammalian cell engineering but has fallen in love with the beautiful world of fungi! Looking forward to seeing what Peter cooks up over the next several years!

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Peter began his research career as a technician in the Manguso Lab at the Broad Institute in Cambridge, MA, where he developed novel cell engineering therapies to treat cancer. At Stanford, Peter was inspired by the transformative potential of synthetic biology to tackle major challenges posed by the climate crisis. Drawn to fungi for their fascinating blend of basic biology and practical applications, he joined the Hill-Maini Lab. Peter is passionate about developing synthetic biology tools to unlock the untapped functional diversity of the fungal kingdom, with a focus on enabling fine-tuned control over hyphal structure using optogenetic tools. Outside the lab, Peter enjoys reading classic novels, embarking on long backpacking adventures, and perfecting his cooking skills. His favorite mushroom is Podoserpula pusio, the Pagoda Fungus, admired for the stunning multi-tiered fruiting bodies that inspire its name

Hill-Maini Lab is live

Exciting times… our lab at Stanford is live! While we await construction to be completed in the Clark Center, we are temporarily housed in the Shriram center. We got some great used equipment at a local garage sale.