Kathleen Hefferon received her PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and currently is on faculty in the Department of Microbiology, Cornell University. She was the Fulbright Canada Research Chair of Global Food Security, 2017-2018. Kathleen also has a visiting professor appointment in the Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto. Kathleen's research interests include global health, food insecurity and plant biotechnology. She is the Founder and CSO of Forte Protein.

Gastón Paladini was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province in Argentina in 1981. Has an MBA from IAE Business School and a Bachelor of Advertising from the University of Palermo. He is married and has 2 children. For the last 10 years, Gastón has been a Board Member for Paladini Group -his family’s company and one of the largest meat producers in Latin America- where he has committed to promoting innovation as a fundamental company value. Fully aware of the current challenges the planet is facing and based on his knowledge and experience in the traditional meat industry, he began to explore the ecosystem of alternative proteins. He co-founded Moolec Science to lead a top-notch scientific team into food where he is currently CEO. Moolec is a science-based ingredients company producing animal proteins in plants through Molecular Farming, a disruptive technology in the alternative protein landscape.