We are excited to announce that Dr. Yamile Mennah has joined Shiru in the role of Food Scientist.
Shiru’s mission is to feed people sustainably by leveraging machine learning and precision biology to identify and create ideal food proteins.
Yamile received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Biological Systems Engineering from the University of California-Davis and her B.S. in Food Engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.
Yamile brings to Shiru seven years of experience in Food Science and Engineering research. She is the first author of ten peer-reviewed articles of studies ranging from the physical breakdown of various food matrices during digestion, the antioxidant bioaccessibility of orange juice, and the protein digestibility of model foods during in vitro digestion. Her doctoral research objective was to determine the impact of food buffering capacity through the breakdown, gastric secretions, and protein digestibility stages using protein-based model foods in a dynamic in vitro digestion model. In addition to research in food, Yamile gained experience with dairy products from her internship at Hilmar Cheese Company, where she was part of the Cheese Technical Engineering Team.
“I am beyond thrilled to join Shiru as the first Food Scientist of the team. I’m also very excited to be part of a female-founded and led team full of talented people! I have been passionate about food and how it is made since I was young. I strongly advocate for developing healthy foods and ingredients with the highest nutritional quality and minimal environmental impact. My mission as a Food Scientist is to find and develop resources to feed the world’s growing population without harming our environment, which aligns very well with Shiru’s mission. I’m excited to be in this together.”
Outside of the lab, you can find Yamile in her kitchen cooking and experimenting with new recipes. She loves yoga, and to deepen her practice; she recently spent 200 hours getting certified as a Yoga Teacher. She also enjoys spending time on the beach, in nature, hiking or camping, and with her family.