SynBioBeta Speaker
Alexandra Boelrijk
Kerry Group
Sr. R&D Dir. ProActive
Having served in multiple international senior leadership roles in the Food and Beverage Industry for over 25 years, Alexandra is passionate about driving the full innovation chain from concept design to product delivery. She has extensive experience in science-based concept ideation, product development, clinical evidence generation and digital health. She joined Kerry in 2022 as Senior Director Research and Development for ProActive Health where she leads an international team of scientists that drive strategic programs related to Digestive, Immune, Cognitive and Women and Infant Health. Before joining Kerry, Alexandra led large and diverse international innovation teams for Danone Nutricia in Europe and Singapore. As global Senior Director she was responsible for Research and Development programs for Infant Nutrition. In Singapore she has set up an incubator hub on digital health innovation, engaging with multiple startups. Besides her corporate roles, Alexandra is an industrial mentor for start-ups in StartLife, a start-up incubator in the Netherlands.
SynBioBeta 2026 Tickets are Live
Confirmed Speakers
Sessions Featuring
Alexandra
This Year
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Ancient Grain, Engineered by Evolution: The Science and Future of Fonio
Fonio, one of West Africa’s oldest cultivated grains, offers a compelling case study in biological optimization. With unique functional starch properties, rapid growth in harsh climates, and emerging applications from gluten-free foods to fermentation, fonio illustrates how traditional crops can inform modern innovation. Chef and food systems advocate Pierre Thiam explores how ancestral agriculture and modern science intersect to shape resilient food systems
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Ancient Grain, Engineered by Evolution: The Science and Future of Fonio
Fonio, one of West Africa’s oldest cultivated grains, offers a compelling case study in biological optimization. With unique functional starch properties, rapid growth in harsh climates, and emerging applications from gluten-free foods to fermentation, fonio illustrates how traditional crops can inform modern innovation. Chef and food systems advocate Pierre Thiam explores how ancestral agriculture and modern science intersect to shape resilient food systems
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Human Health
Programmable Nutrition: Engineering the Next Wave of Bioactive Food Molecules
Food is no longer just sustenance—it’s becoming a programmable interface with human biology. Advances in synthetic biology and foodtech are enabling the design of bioactive molecules that target specific health outcomes: regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, strengthening cardiovascular resilience, and even enhancing cognitive performance. From engineered microbes that secrete beneficial metabolites to programmable synbiotics tuned to the gut, this session will explore how programmable biology is transforming food into a therapeutic platform. Panelists will ask: what if the next breakthroughs in managing obesity, dementia, and heart disease don’t come from pharmaceuticals, but from intelligently designed foods and functional ingredients?
Featuring
Alexandra Boelrijk
Kerry Group
Sr. R&D Dir. ProActive
25-year R&D veteran translating clinical evidence into nutrition breakthroughs.
Gregory Hocking
Mars Snacking
VP Global R&D New Innov. Territories
Reinventing snacking through sustainability and startup bets.
Riccardo LoCascio
Novonesis
Partnering - Precision Proteins
Ivan Jaubert
SynBioBeta
Director of Entrepreneurship
Startup-ecosystem builder connecting founders, investors, and corporates.
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Human Health
Programmable Nutrition: Engineering the Next Wave of Bioactive Food Molecules
Food is no longer just sustenance—it’s becoming a programmable interface with human biology. Advances in synthetic biology and foodtech are enabling the design of bioactive molecules that target specific health outcomes: regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, strengthening cardiovascular resilience, and even enhancing cognitive performance. From engineered microbes that secrete beneficial metabolites to programmable synbiotics tuned to the gut, this session will explore how programmable biology is transforming food into a therapeutic platform. Panelists will ask: what if the next breakthroughs in managing obesity, dementia, and heart disease don’t come from pharmaceuticals, but from intelligently designed foods and functional ingredients?
Featuring
Alexandra Boelrijk
Kerry Group
Sr. R&D Dir. ProActive
25-year R&D veteran translating clinical evidence into nutrition breakthroughs.
Gregory Hocking
Mars Snacking
VP Global R&D New Innov. Territories
Reinventing snacking through sustainability and startup bets.
Riccardo LoCascio
Novonesis
Partnering - Precision Proteins
Ivan Jaubert
SynBioBeta
Director of Entrepreneurship
Startup-ecosystem builder connecting founders, investors, and corporates.
Session lineup still growing
Featuring
Speaker Coming Soon
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Human Health
From Cells to Patients: Solving the Scale Mismatch in Virtual Biology
Drug discovery often measures biology at the cell level while interventions work at the tissue, organ, or whole-patient scale. This mismatch can make accurate cell-level predictions irrelevant in the clinic. This session dives into strategies to bridge that gap: multiscale modeling that nests single-cell dynamics within organ-level simulations, spatial transcriptomics that preserve context, and surrogate models that translate cell-level outputs into clinical biomarkers. Speakers will ask: how do we ensure virtual biology reflects not just what cells do in isolation, but how biology behaves in the real complexity of patients?
Featuring
Speaker Coming Soon
