From Fauna & Stanford

FROM FAUNA & STANFORD

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Introduction

Our Collaboration with Stanford

As one of the premier universities in the world, with its unique benefits being located in Silicon Valley, Stanford has become a growing hub for cultivated meat. Its geographical proximity to dozens of leading Cultivated Meat startups in the Bay Area makes it a frequent location for related events and academic collaborations. While we have a number of team members with associations to Stanford, our collaboration with the institution is just beginning. Our primary work thus far has been collaborating in the creation of the world’s first course on cultivated meat.

The Stanford University Library also features 90 Reasons to Consider Cultivated Meat within its world-renowned Stanford Stacks.

1st Course on Cultivated Meat

The Beginning of Our Work with Stanford University

The world's first course on cultivated meat began development in 2017, envisioned by now From Fauna & Stanford Alumni, Tatiana von Rheinbaben. Tatiana led a collaboration amongst multiple parties, including Stanford administration and the nonprofit, the Good Food Institute (GFI). Tatiana worked alongside Stanford course development coordinators to develop an innovative curriculum for this first Cultivated Meat course.

The developed course syllabus was created such that it could eventually be translated towards future course development efforts at other universities. Tatiana and collaborating Stanford faculty, Dr. Allison Berke, organized guest lectures for the course, strategized pedagogy, and helped determine the academic location of the course at Stanford, ultimately contained within Stanford’s Department of Earth Systems Science.

After gaining approval from the Earth Systems Department, the course held its first semester in the Fall of 2018, taught by Professor Berke, who was also a member of GFI at the time. This exciting collaboration marked the first success in formally introducing cultivated meat into an academic environment. We believe this effort will pave the way for future courses on Cultivated Meat to proliferate across institutions around the world, and one day could catalyze the formation of entire, dedicated departments at universities on the topic of cultivated meat.

From Fauna Founder, Kris Spiros, and many other leaders in the Cultivated Meat space had attempted to create this type of inaugural course for a number of years, including at Florida Atlantic University back in 2013. But the spirit of innovation at Stanford made it the perfect institution to launch the first course in the world on cultivated meat. The course, which focused more specifically on meat made via cultivated meat, provided students with highly relevant instruction, as they are just miles away from where the majority of cultivated meat activity in the world and stakeholders are located, in the Bay Area.

We were also proud to give a guest lecture at this first course on cultivated meat at Stanford. In November 2018, Kris Spiros gave a guest lecture to the inaugural class, discussing the ethics and paths to global success for cell-based meat. The video below is a re-recording of the original presentation.

WATCH ORIGINAL
STANFORD TALK

People

Stanford Affiliates Working with From Fauna

We are honored to have Stanford Affiliates who support our mission, working with From Fauna in leadership and advising roles, as well as in other supporting positions.

MS, Environmental Engineering

Tatiana von Rheinbaben

Tatiana, born and raised in Germany and Mexico, is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where she studied molecular biology. More recently, she graduated from Stanford with her Master’s in Environmental Engineering. Tatiana, a From Fauna Alumni, served in the original leadership structure at From Fauna. She led the creation of the world’s first course on cultivated meat and is also a contributing author on the Implications for Youth Chapter within the From Fauna Textbook.
Former Director, Stanford Cyber Policy Center

Dr. Allison Berke

After studying at MIT and receiving her PhD in Bioengineering from UC Berkeley, Dr. Berke worked within biomedical and technology-focused consulting at McKinsey. She has also served as the Executive Director of the Stanford Cyber Initiative at the Stanford Cyber Policy Center. She has worked as an instructor at Stanford, including teaching the world’s first course on cultivated meat. Dr. Berke’s experience also extends to her roles as Senior Director of Strategy at LexisNexis and Managing Director at Weill Neurohub at the University of California, San Francisco.
Former Director, Stanford StartX

Olivia Fox Cabane

Olivia is the cofounder of KindEarth.Tech and the former Director of Innovative Leadership for Stanford’s startup accelerator, StartX. Her first book, the best-seller, Charisma Myth, was published by Penguin Random House and immediately went into second printing before it even launched. Olivia is a frequent keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies, as well as for top institutions such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, and the United Nations. She also serves as a From Fauna Advisor.
Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering

Dr. Shaked Regev

Dr. Regev is a former student of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where he earned his Master’s in Biomedical Engineering. He is also the Co-Founder & Director of International Development at The Modern Agriculture Foundation. Dr. Regev currently works at Stanford’s Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, serves as a From Fauna Advisor, and is a contributing author on the UN SDG: Humanity Chapter, within the developing From Fauna Textbook.