Ishita Shah

Ishita M. Shah is the CEO and co-founder of Matrubials, a biotechnology company spun out from the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute. She concurrently serves as the Associate Director of Microbial Programs at the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute, where her scientific research examines the role of milk components in human health and infectious diseases. Previously, Shah worked as a senior researcher specializing in infectious diseases at Genentech and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship as a scientist at Columbia University. She earned her PhD in microbiology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2005, where she was awarded the university's annual thesis prize for her academic research. Her current professional focus centers on bridging academic microbiology and commercial biotechnology to develop novel, milk-derived bioactive therapeutics for the treatment of infectious diseases.