Harini Venkataraman is a Senior Analyst and Team Captain on the Agrifood team at Lux Research, based in Amsterdam. In this role, she monitors emerging technologies and evaluates innovation opportunities for several topics of food and nutrition, such as novel ingredients, sugar reduction, alternative proteins, food safety, personalized nutrition, and the microbiome.
Before joining Lux, Harini worked as a senior associate scientist at DSM Food Specialties, the Netherlands, focusing on R&D activities in the areas of brewing enzymes, food processing enzymes, and nutraceuticals. She also has experience working on projects related to regulatory affairs and toxicology. Harini holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology from Vrije University, Amsterdam, specializing in engineering bacterial enzymes for food, flavor, and pharma applications. She has authored multiple publications in peer-reviewed journals and established successful academic and industrial collaborations.