We are on a mission to make Saving The Planet taste better.
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Meet Our Team
Yulin
Lu
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Yulin is a bioengineer and our fearless leader. He also serves on our Board of Directors. Before Yali Bio, he led engineering and technology development for plant-based proteins at Impossible Foods and Just. Yulin also worked as a synthetic biologist in biofuels and biomaterials while working at Solazyme and Mascoma. He attended Dartmouth, TU Delft and received his doctorate in biochemical engineering from Purdue. You can find him in his spare time writing novels in his head, pounding coffee, or driving his kids to their games.
Peng
Xu
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Peng co-founded Yali Bio and continues to guide our scientific developments. He is an associate professor of chemical engineering at Guangdong-Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. A recognized scholar in metabolic engineering, he serves on the editorial board for the journal Current Opinion in Biotechnology and Metabolic Engineering. He earned his doctorate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and completed postdoc training with Greg Stephanopoulos at MIT. When he’s not at Yali Bio, you can catch him mentoring students and encouraging them to work on fun research projects.
Aravind
Somanchi
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Aravind leads our research and development (R&D) team of molecular biologists, analytical chemists and fermentation scientists as they work to make our functional fats and lipids. His career as an highly cited scientist in disruptive synthetic biology companies has involved technologies including renewable diesel, algae based surfboard, and algal oils. He received his doctorate in biological sciences from Louisiana State University and completed postdoc training with Steve Mayfield at Scripps Research (previously known as The Scripps Research Institute). When not in the Yali Bio labs, you can find him doing kid things or pondering literature and art.
Don
DiMasi
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Don guides our team to scale our technology. His leadership in industrial bioprocessing has shaped the bioeconomy over three decades at companies like Impossible, C16, Synonym, Hawkwood, Solazyme, and Brightseed. He received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate in chemical engineering from M.I.T., Tufts, and U.V.A., respectively, and a master’s in executive leadership from the University of San Diego. When not at Yali Bio, you can find him with a glass of pinot cooking an Italian dinner after a long hike.
Lorin
DeBonte
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Lorin leads our innovation team, where he focuses on ingredient innovation, applications, and partnerships. He previously worked at Cargill as an R&D Leader and R&D Corporate Fellow, and has been named in over 100 patents related to food, ingredients, and crop genetics. In 2020, DeBonte was recognized for his outstanding achievements in edible applications by the American Oil Chemist Society. He received his doctorate in plant genetics and microbiology from Miami University and his bachelor’s in biology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. When not at Yali Bio, you can find him identifying wild plants, volunteering at the arboretum, trying new recipes, or hiking in Colorado.
Zachary
Houston
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Zachary works on our strain engineering team to turn raw ingredients into useful fats. He received his bachelor’s in molecular biology from Penn State and master’s in biotechnology from the University of San Francisco. Prior to Yali Bio, he studied Hawaiian Bobtail Squid bioluminescence at the Miyashiro Lab at Penn State. You can find him gaming, deep in a science fiction novel, or glued to the TV watching a suspenseful thriller.
Galen
Moynihan
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Galen works with our scientific team to grow and harvest lipids. He received his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Union College and his master’s in engineering science from Dartmouth with a focus on bioprocess engineering. Before Yali Bio, Galen worked on how to make plant-based biofuel using fermentation and built a custom bioreactor as part of his research. When not at Yali Bio, you’re likely to find him skiing in Tahoe tapping into his New Hampshire roots.
Rany
Susanti
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Rany works with our scientific team to characterize our climate-smart fats as precisely as possible. She received her Ph.D. in crop physiology from the University of Reading and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in food technology and processing and food chemistry research from Bandung Institute of Technology, and Erasmus master research experience from Ghent University. She previously worked at Mars Chocolate researching cocoa sustainability. When she’s not traveling the world you can find her cooking, trail running, or hiking.
Dauson
Larrabee
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Dauson supports our strain engineering and fermentation teams. He is pursuing his master’s in biotechnology at the University of San Francisco after receiving his master’s from Western Governors University and bachelor’s in biology from Eastern Washington University. He is a former chemistry educator. When not being confused with his identical twin brother, you’re most likely to find him gaming or lifting weights.
Rachel
Zemser
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Rachel explores the possibilities of our ingredients in the development of new products. For more than two decades, she has pushed the limits of what food can do and how companies can make better food. A certified culinary scientist and a certified food scientist, she received her bachelor’s from the University of Massachusetts and master’s from the University of Illinois, both in food science. When not at Yali Bio, you can most likely find her hunting for seasonal produce.
James
Kirby
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James helps us develop our science in yeast physiology. He has over two decades of experience as a team scientist on mission-driven projects. He received his bachelor’s in industrial microbiology from University College Dublin and his doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Aberdeen. His scientific and entrepreneurial projects include developing biofuels using yeast and encouraging ethical consumerism. Catch him hiking or attempting to play guitar.
Andres
Manzanares
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Andres supports our business operations including assisting with business development, financial modeling, and market research. Prior to Yali Bio, he founded the Latin America and Madrid investment teams at Prudential Private Capital where he focused on international markets. He is completing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and studied finance and economics at Washington University in St. Louis. When he’s not crunching numbers, you can find him playing spikeball, sipping Spanish wine, watching an FC Barcelona game, or globetrotting with his four passports.
Xiunan
Yi
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Xiu develops the microbiotic strains we use to engineer our climate-friendly fats. Prior to Yali Bio, he researched strain fermentation at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. He received his doctorate in microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin, his master's in biomanufacturing and bioprocessing from the University of Georgia, and his bachelor's in microbiology from Shandong University. When he's not fermenting stuff at Yali Bio, you can find him drinking milk tea and playing video games with his cat SuSan.
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Jungeun
Lee
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Jungeun works with our scientific teams to grow oil-producing microorganisms and to help find the best conditions to support their growth. Before Yali Bio, she was a scientist at Eat Just and Wild Type, and before that, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship with bioreactor manufacturer PBS Biotech. She holds a master’s in food science and technology from Ewha Womans University and a doctorate in bioprocessing from Kansas State University, through their Department of Grain Science and Industry. When not at Yali Bio, you can find her hiking mountains or experimenting in the kitchen.
Diana
Garibay
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Diana helps us identify, analyze, and communicate opportunities with potential partners, and supports our internal teams by helping us streamline our operations. Before Yali Bio, she worked as a foodtech consultant with Helikon Consulting, a biotech advisory firm. Diana received her bachelor’s in bioengineering from MIT with a certificate in tissue engineering as a Living Machines scholar. When not at Yali Bio, you can find her at home caring for her unusually large houseplant collection, cooking, baking, playing board games, or trying out new crafts.
Forum
Bhansali
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Forum supports our fermentation team as they research and develop new ways to create our fats. She is currently pursuing her master's in biotechnology at the University of San Francisco, having previously received her bachelor's in life science from the University of Mumbai. Prior to Yali Bio, she worked as a Project Assistant at a COVID-19 testing centre in India. When not in the lab, you can find her dreaming of dogs to adopt, hiking, exploring new places, or painting.
Alex
Berg
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Alex assists our team with strain development and business analytics by helping us develop and identify novel uses for our fats. She is passionate about science and sustainability, having previously researched altered gene expression in bacteria while completing her bachelor's in biological sciences at Mount Holyoke College. When not at Yali Bio, you can find her strolling around town, dancing in her head, or leisurely reading her latest favorite book.
Kasper
Jakobsen
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Kasper helps our strain development team make yeasts to produce climate-friendly fats. He’s currently a fellow of Innovation Centre Denmark’s International Bioinnovation Scholarship Program. Kasper recently won a global synthetic biology competition by creating a biosensor for PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals. He’s currently pursuing his master’s in biotechnology at the Technical University of Denmark, where he also received his bachelor’s in human life science engineering. When not in the labs, you can find him taking film photos of everything from gigantic glaciers to cozy concerts.
Gabi
Dog
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Gabi has been fascinated with food as long as he can remember, and now he spends his time at Yali exploring the intersection of smells and edible things around the office. Before his current role, he was a puppy. While he has no formal education of any kind, he does have an estimated 300 million olfactory receptors, giving him a sense of smell at least 10,000 times better than yours. When not at Yali Bio, you can find him sleeping, eating, and going for walkies. He does not use LinkedIn.
Frankie
Cattington
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Like many of his coworkers, Frankie is obsessed with nutritious fats — especially eating them. During the 6% of his day when he isn’t sleeping, he enjoys exploring his other research interests, including how to walk on a cat leash, how to wake up humans, and do you have that stick thing with the string and the feather? In fact, he recently co-authored a paper on human-cat interaction entitled Optimization of vocal pitch to maximize irritation to sleeping humans. To unwind, he enjoys hiking and… Whoa! Was that a bird?!
SuSan
Snoozipants
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SuSan is one of our most committed team members. He brings his innate curiosity, distrust of cucumbers, and finite energy to his work every day at Yali Bio. He spends most of his time trying to figure out how doing cute cat stuff can be used to grow office efficiency and productivity. When not patrolling the office, SuSan enjoys pondering where the red dot comes from, sleeping, sneaking up on inanimate objects, and sleeping.
Board & Advisors
Yulin
Lu
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Yulin is a bioengineer and our fearless leader. He also serves on our Board of Directors. Before Yali Bio, he led engineering and technology development for plant-based proteins at Impossible Foods and Just. Yulin also worked as a synthetic biologist in biofuels and biomaterials while working at Solazyme and Mascoma. He attended Dartmouth, TU Delft and received his doctorate in Biochemical Engineering from Purdue. You can find him in his spare time writing novels in his head, pounding coffee, or driving his kids to their games.
John
Goldsmith
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John guides Yali Bio as a member of the Board of Directors. He draws from his deep experience in business design and strategy as an early-stage investor. He serves as Board Member at Gerson Lehrman Group, and was previously the Chairman of Lux Research. He is a former partner with the leading global private investment firm AEA Investors where he worked on leveraged buy-outs involving publicly-traded companies and IPOs. He received his bachelor’s in biology from Princeton and his master’s in business administration from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Daphne
Preuss
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Daphne guides Yali Bio as a member of the Advisory Board. She is an experienced food and agriculture entrepreneur with a deep science background. She serves on the board of the Biotechnology Industry Organization. Previously, Daphne founded Chromatin Inc.; was a professor and Howard Hughes Investigator at the University of Chicago; and chaired the international committee that oversaw the sequencing of the first plant genome. She received her doctorate in biology from MIT and her bachelor’s in chemistry and biology from the University of Denver.
Soren
Schroder
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Soren guides Yali Bio as a member of the Advisory Board. He has 35 years of leadership experience in global agribusiness and food ingredients including serving as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Bunge Limited from 2013 to 2018 and being employed in a variety of leadership roles at Bunge from 2000 to 2013. Prior to Bunge, he worked for over 15 years at Continental Grain and Cargill. Over the course of his career he developed an expertise in building global supply chains, managing risk, optimizing logistics, strategic acquisitions and global partnerships. He received his bachelor's in economics from Connecticut College and is a member of the North American Agribusiness Advisory Board.
Jonathan
Wolfson
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Jonathan guides Yali Bio as a member of the Advisory Board. He is co-founder and CEO of Ingenuity Brands, a food-based brain nutrition CPG company. He has participated in the successful IPO of multiple ventures including Solazyme, a microalgae synthetic biology company for renewable oils, which he confounded and led as CEO, and Avantium, as former board member. He received the inaugural George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology and Agriculture from the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), his JD from NYU School of Law, his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business with a focus in Finance, and his bachelor’s from Emory University.
Our Investors
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