San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based BlueNalu – a food company developing seafood products directly from fish cells – has appointed Lauran Madden to the position of chief technology officer.
Madden started at BlueNalu in 2018 as the company’s first employee. Since that time, according to BlueNalu, she has been “instrumental” in the company’s development of its technology strategy, and a leading figure in the company’s research and product development team.
“When we decided to embark on this journey to produce seafood in a totally new way, we knew we needed someone with the vision, scientific discipline, and determination to head our technology efforts and innovate from a blank slate,” BlueNalu Co-Founder, President, and CEO Lou Cooperhouse said.
In the three years since starting, Madden led the R&D team through multiple milestones, including developing a cell-line development platform for finfish and prototyping products that demonstrate similar characteristics to conventional seafood.
“Since the start, Lauran has demonstrated a unique blend of creativity, thoughtfulness, leadership, and scientific expertise that has resulted in the technological differentiation we have created at BlueNalu,” Madden said. “This promotion signifies the importance of her leadership and vision, and I’m proud to have her on the executive team as we continue forward in our journey to bring delicious, cell-cultured seafood to the market in the coming years.”
Prior to her new role, Madden served as vice president of research and product development. In her new role, she will continue overseeing R&D, supply chain strategy, cost optimization, bioprocess design and development, and culinary science.
“It's been incredibly motivating to see firsthand the tremendous progress our team has made — not only in the foundational biology but all the way through the technology pipeline,” Madden said. “BlueNalu’s vision captivated me from the start. The technology we’re developing is so novel and transformational and I'm honored to lead such a driven team that understands the positive impacts cell-cultured seafood can make on our planet.”
Photo courtesy of BlueNalu
