September 2, 2025
In 2025, Stanford Bio-X launched Food@Stanford, a new campus wide initiative uniting students, postdocs, staff, and faculty across all seven schools with the shared mission to advance cutting-edge research, foster innovation, and support educational initiatives at the intersection of food, medicine, and human health. The program seeks to drive scientific discoveries that deepen our understanding of how food and nutrition impact health and disease; support the development of innovative solutions to improve health outcomes through food-based interventions and medical approaches; and build a collaborative research community that bridges disciplines across medicine, engineering, the humanities and sciences, and sustainability. The program is also committed to educating and inspiring the next generation of leaders, and to translating research findings into real-world applications.
The Food@Stanford Snack Grants aim to advance cutting-edge research, foster innovation, and support educational initiatives at the intersection of food, medicine, and human health.
Snack Grant Finalists each gave a 10-minute presentation (5-minute pitch + 5-minute Q&A) in a “Shark Tank” style, from which the committee selected the awardees.
The 2025 award recipients are listed below.
Learn More About Food@Stanford!
2025 Food@Stanford Snack Grants:
Assessing the Impact of Microbial Priming for Wheat Drought Tolerance on Nutritional Value
PI: Jennifer Brophy
Team Member: Ekaterina Kozaeva
Video available now to the public
Sustainable Synergy in Food and Fiber Production
PI: Patrick Brown
Video available now to Stanford SUNet ID holders
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From (Ov-)Albumin to Zein: Quantifying the Impact of Dietary Protein Sources on Gut Microbial Toxin Fluxes
PI: Jonas Cremer
Team Members: Richa Sharma, Bridget Keel, Shaili Mathur
Video available now to Stanford SUNet ID holders
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How Much Alt-Meat (and Alt-Dairy) to Eat?
PI: Christopher Gardner
co-PIs: Ellen Kuhl, Stephen Luby, Abby King
Team Member: Sophie Egan
Video available now to the public
Genetic Design of Fungal Foods for Human and Planetary Health
PI: Vayu Hill-Maini
co-PI: Justin Sonnenburg
Team Members: Franklin Lurie, Braydon Black, Taylor Nguyen
Video available now to the public
Diet, Medicine, and Microbes: Uncovering the Impact of Traditional Compounds on the Small Intestinal Microbiome
PI: Kerwyn Casey Huang
co-PI: Sean Spencer
Video available now to the public
The Stanford Burger Study: An AI-Powered Texture and Taste Mapping to Promote Healthier Food Choices
PI: Ellen Kuhl
co-PI: Christopher Gardner
Team Members: Andrew Mayne, Skyler St. Pierre
Video available now to the public
Transforming Single Cell Protein into Healthy Sustainable Human Food
PI: Stephen Luby
co-PI: Dylan Dodd
Team Member: Chungheon Shin
Video available now to the public
Engineering Tomato Lipids to Combat Postharvest Fruit Loss & Increase Availability
PI: Mary Beth Mudgett
co-PI: Elizabeth Sattely
Video available now to Stanford SUNet ID holders
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OMNI-FIM: Objective Measures for Nutrition Innovation to Advance Food is Medicine
PI: Lisa Goldman Rosas
Team Member: Marcela Radtke
Video available now to the public
Engineering Tolerogenic Vaccines to Prevent Food Allergy
PI: Elizabeth Sattely
co-PI: Michael Fischbach
Team Member: Dan Littman
Video available now to Stanford SUNet ID holders
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Defining the Therapeutic Potential of Fermented Food-Derived Metabolites
PI: Justin Sonnenburg
co-PI: Christopher Gardner
Video available now to Stanford SUNet ID holders
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Presenters and attendees during the Food@Stanford Shark Tank Pitch Presentations.