TurtleTree appoints Dr Aletta Schnitzler as chief scientific officer
Schnitzler joins from MilliporeSigma where she was R&D director of the company’s cultured meat department
Singapore-based cell-based nutrition company TurtleTree has appointed Dr Aletta Schnitzler as its chief scientific officer.
Schnitzler previously worked for MilliporeSigma for more than 10 years, most recently as R&D director of the company’s cultured meat department, where she led a scientific and engineering team in creating technologies for the manufacturing of cultured meat. She also spearheaded business and product development. Before that she was MilliporeSigma’s head of cell therapy bioprocessing, where she engineered cost-effective cell culture media and reagents for use in cellular therapeutic applications.
Aletta received her PhD in immunology and neuroscience from the Boston University School of Medicine in 2007. Since then, she has developed a xeno-free cell culture medium for mesenchymal stromal cell expansion, and she is also an editorial board member of Stem Cells Translational Medicine, an international journal dedicated to stem cell research.
Schnitzler said: “Developing life-saving medicines through therapeutic cell manufacturing technologies was immensely gratifying. With cellular agriculture, the aim to better human health with nutritious and diverse alternative protein sources creates the potential to make a broader impact. Being at TurtleTree grants me a vital opportunity to improve our food system and benefit society on a global scale.”
Fengru Lin, chief executive of TurtleTree, commented: “We’re incredibly honoured to have Aletta and her expertise in both cellular agriculture and therapeutics with us. We’re excited to see her apply her experience to creating innovation cycles that will kick-start our productisation.”