Tana Hernandez Barrueta
PhD, Food Science, UC Davis
Tana is an enthusiastic food scientist committed to developing healthier and tastier probiotic food. She holds a B.S. in Biotechnology Engineering and a Masters in Food Science. Her interest in becoming a product developer and entrepreneur motivated her to pursue a Ph.D. in Food Science under Dr. Nitin Nitin‘s guidance. Tana’s research focuses on developing innovative encapsulation systems for probiotics and other molecules to maximize their health-promoting effects. In 2020, she received the UC MEXUS-CONACYT Doctoral Fellowship to fund four years of her studies.
Tana leverages her interest in graphic design and her skills in public speaking to engage in various science communication activities. Now as the 2023-2024 Science Communications Fellow at the Innovation Institute for Food and Health, she will continue her mission to translate scientific concepts of food and nutrition into terms more easily digestible by a broader audience (pun intended).