The pace of innovation across food and health continues to accelerate, creating new opportunities to connect research, industry, entrepreneurship, and investment. For IIFH this quarter has been marked by new strategic partnerships and continued progress in translating nutrition science into real-world impact. In this update, we are pleased to share highlights from across our community, along with opportunities to engage as we continue working together to make the food we love healthier for people and the planet.
📌 At-a-Glance: Executive Summary
- Aggie Venture Accelerator Launches: UC Davis introduces the Aggie Venture Accelerator (AVA), strengthening pathways for early-stage life science commercialization.
- Two new strategic collaborations
- IIFH and Food Frontier are partnering to bridge scientific discovery and commercial impact across agriculture, culinary innovation, and food systems.
- IIFH and LLNL are partnering to combine world-class research capabilities to advance discovery and commercialization in food and health.
- Food and Health Angels (FH Angels) Network: FH Angels announced its first investment in Persperion Diagnostics, a startup developing a non-invasive glucose monitoring device.
🔹 New Partnerships
- Food Frontier x IIFH Partnership: Food Frontier – a pioneering initiative championing the Sacramento Valley’s food ecosystem – and IIFH have launched a strategic partnership to bridge the gap between scientific discovery and commercial adoption by connecting researchers, chefs, investors, supply chain, and consumer market. The collaboration combines IIFH’s world-class expertise in nutrition science, food technology, metabolic health, and biotechnology with Food Frontier’s leadership across agricultural, culinary, and commercial networks to accelerate healthier and more sustainable food innovations. Read More
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) x IIFH Partnership: The collaboration brings together LLNL’s cutting-edge capabilities in artificial intelligence, supercomputing, synthetic biology, and advanced engineering with IIFH’s leadership in food science and biotechnology to advance the translation of breakthrough innovation in food and health. Read more
🔗 IIFH Partners Collaborate
- Mars & Olam Food Ingredients (ofi) Advance Regenerative Almond Sourcing: Mars-owned KIND and global food and beverage ingredient supplier ofi have reached a major milestone in their three-year Almond Acres Initiative, successfully sourcing approximately 50% of their almond volume from farms using regenerative agriculture practices and putting the program on track to achieve its 2030 goal. As valued members of the IIFH partner community, their collaboration demonstrates how cross-sector partnerships can help scale regenerative agriculture while advancing more resilient and sustainable food systems. Read more
🎤 IIFH Events
- IIFH Discovery Forum | Quantifying Health: the future of measuring biomarkers for molecular level insights | November 10 | UC Davis, Davis, California
- IIFH is convening a select group of leaders from academia, clinical care, investment, philanthropy, and industry for a focused, high-level discussion on the rapidly emerging role of molecular diagnostics in nutrition and health. This one day invite-only event is designed to bring together the people and organizations shaping that future to explore how advances in biomarker measurement can improve personalized nutrition, enable earlier disease detection, and accelerate the development of next-generation diagnostics and health technologies.
🎤Ecosystem Events
- Integrative Center for Alternative Meat and Protein (iCAMP) 26: The 5th Annual Innovation Summit for Food Biomanufacturing | September 1- 2 | UC Davis, Davis, California
- iCAMP26 is a two-day innovation summit at UC Davis focused on food biomanufacturing, sustainable food innovation, and the bioeconomy. Its program includes keynote talks, panels, fireside chats, student innovation sessions, networking, and optional regional tours and a technical research retreat. Full Agenda and Registration
- Nutrition Insight Webinar | September 16 | Virtual
- IIFH Faculty Director Dr. Justin Siegel will join leaders from Innova Market Insights and Ujala Life Sciences to discuss the scientific, consumer, and market trends shaping nutrition innovation in 2027. The webinar will explore emerging opportunities in metabolic health, functional ingredients, precision nutrition, and next-generation product development. Learn More & Register
- Metabolomics Association of North America (MANA) 8th Annual Conference | September 8–11 | UC Davis, Davis, California
- MANA 2026 brings together the global metabolomics community for four days of scientific exchange and collaboration. IIFH is proud to support the conference as a sponsor and engage with researchers and industry leaders advancing innovations in food, nutrition, and health. Full Agenda and Registration
- AgriFood Investor Network | October 6 | UC Davis, California
- The AgriFood Investor Network brings together a robust network of investors and knowledge experts, to share insights, connections, and perspectives on the current and future state of the AgriFood investment landscape.
- MISTA Growth Hack & Demo Day | October 22 | San Francisco, California
- Hosted by MISTA, a global food innovation platform that connects leading food companies, startups, and industry experts, this event will explore how advances in nutrition, biotechnology, AI, and food technology are shaping the future of food and health.
- UC Berkeley Food Systems Innovation Summit | November 13 | UC Berkeley, California
- The UC Berkeley Food Systems Innovation Summit will bring together thought leaders, students, alumni, and industry partners to explore systems-level approaches to food innovation and entrepreneurship. Full Agenda and Registration
- Women’s Health Innovation Summit | November 17 & 18 | Aggie Square, Sacramento, California
- In partnership with Wexford Science & Technology, the developer of Aggie Square innovation district, IIFH is proud to support this two-day summit bringing together leaders across sectors to explore how food innovation and nutrition science can better advance women’s metabolic health.
- The 17th Fatty Acids in Cell Signaling (FACS ) Conference | December 1- 4 | UC Davis, California
- IIFH is proud to sponsor the 17th FACS Conference, bringing together leading researchers to explore the role of dairy lipids and fats in metabolic and brain health.
🌱 Startup Highlight
- SinewUS, Pharm to Food, and ThriveSpan Labs – Three IIFH-affiliated startups have been selected for the inaugural cohort of the UC Davis Aggie Venture Accelerator (AVA): SinewUS, creating a tendon-specific health platform; Pharm to Food, developing advanced analytical tools that provide actionable insights for food and health companies in product development; and ThriveSpan Labs, a personalized metabolic wellness platform offering diagnostics to support GLP-1 users. This newly launched accelerator provides early-stage founders with mentorship, funding, entrepreneurial training, and investor connections to help translate breakthrough innovations into market-ready companies. Learn More
- amplifye – amplifye is developing enzyme technology designed to enhance protein digestion and absorption. This quarter, amplifyeP24 was recognized as a winner in the inaugural Wellworthy Awards, earning top honors in the Supplements & Nutrition category. The award recognizes innovative new product launches shaping the future of health and wellness and marks another milestone in the company’s commercialization journey. Learn more
- Oobli – Oobli is advancing fermentation-derived sweet proteins that enable reduced-sugar food and beverage products without compromising taste. At IFT FIRST, Oobli and Ingredion launched a new Brazzein – a sweet protein derived from oubli fruit – to enhance stevia solution, marking another milestone as the company expands commercialization with global food manufacturers across US and Latin America. Learn more
- PrismBio – PrismBio is developing fermentation-derived natural colorants that provide sustainable and healthier alternatives to synthetic dyes for food and consumer products. After connecting with CEO Birgit Cameron at the 2026 IIFH Partner Summit, biotechnology executive David Weiner joined the company as CTO strengthening PrismBio’s leadership as it advances commercialization. Learn more
🧬 Faculty Collaboration Spotlight: Dr. Keith Baar
Dr. Keith Baar, Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology at UC Davis, studies how metabolism, movement, and nutrition influence musculoskeletal health across the lifespan. His research is informing evidence-based strategies to support healthy aging while guiding the development of next-generation nutrition and food innovations. Read more
🎓 IIFH Fellow Updates
- California–Denmark Innovator Fellowship
Funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and UC Investments, the CA-Denmark Innovator Fellowship facilitates a 6 months bilateral exchange of leading young scientists between UC Davis and Universities across Denmark. Fellows engage with The March Group (TMG) Venture Capital Firm and the BioInnovation Institute (BII) alongside their lab work to learn how to conduct use-inspired research in food and planetary health and participate in real go-to-market activities.
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- Co-hosted in Copenhagen, the inaugural California–Denmark Innovator Fellowship Colloquium brought together fellows, faculty, industry leaders, and innovation partners from California and Denmark to showcase their research and projects, strengthening international partnerships and building a strong foundation for following years of the program. Read more
- Building on the success of the inaugural cohort, we are pleased to announce Arpa Boghozian (PhD candidate, Viticulture & Enology), Simon Ellison (PhD candidate, Chemistry), and Hareem Zahid (PhD candidate, Nutrition) have been selected for the second cohort of fellows who will leave for Denmark in January to embed into Danish labs and incubators.
📰 IIFH & Partners Leading Global Food & Health Conversations
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