The Team
Katie Kam, PhD, PE
Katie Kam, PhD, PE
CEO & Co-Founder
The story of how I got here starts with when I worked in high school at a BBQ restaurant in northwest Austin. I'd eat BBQ on my breaks; brisket slathered in sauce was my favorite followed up with banana pudding. But then over time, as I learned more about factory farming and could no longer make the distinction between my dogs and cats I loved and the animals that were on my plate, I decided to become vegan. A few years later, when I heard about Dr. Mark Post making the first cultivated hamburger, I immediately knew that was the win-win solution for meeting meat demand and addressing animal welfare, environmental, and other issues associated with meat from slaughtered animals. I started BioBQ in December 2018, then met my co-founder and chief science advisor Dr. Janet Zoldan in the fall of 2019. I am thrilled that in 2021 we are actively engaged in an exciting engineering and scientific challenge of bringing cultivated barbecue meats to the world. This is my second business; I enjoy being an entrepreneur. I love that this effort combines my education and experience in engineering, biology, chemistry, community & regional planning, and entrepreneurship.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katie-kam
Janet Zoldan, PhD
CSO & Co-Founder
Janet Zoldan, PhD
For the past few years, I have focused my research on the use of cell culturing and tissue engineering to repair human hearts. Then one day in the fall of 2019, Dr. Katie Kam reached out to me with her interest in working in my lab to learn cell culturing and tissue engineering to create cultivated meat. Intrigued, I invited her to my office and learned from her about the progress, opportunities, and research needs for advancing cultivated meat. I thought about our meeting and called her the next day, excited about applying my knowledge to this endeavor. She and I have been working together since to advance the science and engineering of cultivated meat. I'm an associate professor in The University of Texas at Austin biomedical engineering program. My background is in tissue engineering, stem cells, materials engineering, and chemistry.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/janet-zoldan-15b6214
Katya Whitliff
Bioengineer
I recently graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in biomedical engineering and have lab experience with cell culture and tissue engineering. I enjoy research and lab work and am a vegan; I am excited to be a part of this team.