CULT Food Science Corp said it has established a global cellular agriculture advisory board to guide its pursuit of defendable cellular agriculture-focused intellectual property, patents, and royalty streams.
Chaired by Dr. Ian Smith, an accomplished scientist and research professor at the University of California, Irvine, the board's foundational members also include Dr. Paul Burridge, Rob Harris, Dr. Anjum Mullani, and Saloni Shah.
CULT said the advisors are all thought leaders in their respective areas of cellular agriculture, cell biology, pharmacology, biotechnology, and alternative protein solutions. The company expects to add other members to the board in due course, as appropriate.
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"I am proud of CULT for having assembled such a world-class Advisory Board and greatly look forward to the team working with and learning from these esteemed individuals,” said CEO Dorian Banks in a statement. “The company's pursuit of proprietary intellectual property, valuable patents and ongoing royalty streams is an exciting opportunity, especially as cellular agriculture is rapidly increasing as an important topic around the world."
He added: "The global factory farming and aquaculture crises are intensifying in real-time. It is my view that CULT is best positioned to democratize access and foster peoples' investment in revolutionary solutions to these issues that are posing a major threat to the world as we know it."
The following is a summary of each board member:
- Dr. Ian Smith, the chairman, has over 20 years of experience with cell biology and has earned significant due diligence experience in the emerging alternative protein and cellular agriculture industries.
- Dr. Paul Burridge is an esteemed pharmacologist and the principal of the Burridge Lab at Northwestern University, which has been credited with multiple first discoveries. He is currently conducting research around induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) for the purpose of advancing cultivated meat.
- Rob Harris is an active start-up advisor and operations specialist with executive experience in alternative protein enterprises. He is focused on bridging the gap between scientific possibility and commercially viable products in the field of cellular agriculture.
- Dr. Anjum Mullani is an alumnus of Institut Pasteur, Paris' Department of developmental and stem cell biology and is equipped with direct expertise studying and implementing solutions across research programs, animal biotechnology, molecular biology, and cellular senescence.
- Saloni Shah is an alumnus of Boston University's Department of Earth and Environment and Harvard University's Forest Lab. She is the food and farming analyst for the Breakthrough Institute, a global research center seeking technological solutions to environmental challenges.
As consideration for their appointments, the company said it has granted each advisor 50,000 options to purchase up to 50,000 shares at $0.33 each for five years from the date of grant.
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