PPIC Staff and Researchers

Pam Ismail, Ph.D., PPIC Founder and Director, [email protected]

Dr. Pam Ismail is the Founder and Director of the Plant Protein Innovation Center and is a Professor at the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota. Dr. Ismail has over 30 years of experience in Food Chemistry and Analysis research focused on structural characterization and enhancement of functionality, safety, bioavailability, and bioactivity of food proteins, following novel processing and analytical approaches. She is the recipient of a “Distinguished Teaching Award” and an “Outstanding Professor Award”.

Dr. Karthik Pandalaneni joined PPIC in November 2020 as Manager of Operations and assumed the role of Assistant Director in June 2022. As the Assistant Director of PPIC, he oversees research projects, conducts member relationships, and coordinates PPIC events and communications. Additionally, Karthik seeks out research funds for the center from federal and state commodity groups, and develops research grant proposals. Prior to working for PPIC, he was a Global Application Scientist. He completed his Ph.D. in Food Science from Kansas State University (2018). 

Echo Crawford joined PPIC in the Research Project Manager role in 2024. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a M.S. in Food Science, researching how processing conditions and hydrocolloid addition influenced the functional properties of Aquafaba (the cooking water from chickpeas) and optimizing it for use as an egg substitute in cake. After graduating, Echo worked as a project coordinator for a safety and regulatory compliance consulting group before spending time working in Quality and Operations for a dietary supplement company. Echo has had a longstanding passion for animal protein substitutes and an ongoing interest in new and sustainable plant-based foods. 

Taylor Otness joined PPIC as a Research Specialist in June of 2023 after receiving his Bachelor's degree in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Minnesota in the Spring of 2023. During his studies, Taylor worked as an undergraduate research assistant studying cereal grains and the effects of non-thermal processing on the functionality of wheat and intermediate wheatgrass flours and doughs. In June of 2024, he was promoted to the role of Operations Manager for PPIC. As Operations Manager, he is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and acquisition of equipment and instrumentation, and leads the pilot plant production of protein ingredients. Taylor has a passion for sustainable food sources and is an outdoors enthusiast, spending his free time with hobbies like camping, disc golfing, rock climbing, and snowboarding.

Adiella joined PPIC in February 2021 in an administrative role. She holds a Bachelor of General Studies in Education from Simon Fraser University, a program that gave her a strong foundation across the arts and sciences. She spent six years teaching in Brazil and England, while also editing Food Science and Engineering research papers. Her experience in the classroom—including a year of online teaching during COVID—shaped her appreciation for clear, visually engaging communication. She brings that creative perspective to PPIC through website updates, visual organization, and the development of promotional materials.

Sarah joined the PPIC team in March 2021 and assists the PPIC Director, Dr. Pam Ismail, in developing and managing relationships with external stakeholders of plant protein research. She retired recently to Oregon after over 28 years in corporate R&D. Her last role was a director of product development at Hill’s Pet Nutrition (a division of Colgate-Palmolive). Prior to that, she held several scientist and management positions at Mead Johnson Nutritionals (previously a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb Inc).  In both roles, Sarah played a key role in a number of fat, protein and hydrocolloid technology development initiatives. Her passion for innovation in food science is demonstrated in numerous successful commercial product launches as well as issued patents and patent applications. Sarah was the President of the Oregon Section of the Institute of Food Technologists (OSIFT). She got her MS and PhD degrees in Food Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her B.S. degree in Food Technology was from the University of the Philippines.  

Dilek Uzunalioglu, Ph.D., Advisor, Technology & Ecosystem Development, [email protected]

Dilek Uzunalioglu collaborates with PPIC team to enhance partnerships between start-ups, industry, and academia; to develop technology landscape maps; to support workshops, to develop mentoring programs, fostering innovation in alternative protein space. With over 20 years of experience in the food industry, Dilek has successfully led global R&D programs, projects, and technical teams for multinational corporations and start-ups, including Ingredion, Inc., and Motif FoodWorks, Inc. Currently, Dilek works as a consultant empowering startups with solutions in ingredient technology, product development, and food processing. Dilek has developed and commercialized a wide range of food ingredients and products, including starches, fibers, sweeteners, gluten-free flours and systems, pulse flours and proteins, fermentation-based proteins, and meat and dairy alternatives. Her expertise spans food ingredient functionality, food processing, product development and design, quality, innovation processes, technology scouting, and consumer research. Dilek holds a Ph. D. in Food Science from Rutgers University and B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Food Engineering from the Middle East Technical University. She has authored several patents, journal articles, conference papers and two book chapters. 

Sarra joined the PPIC team in August 2023 as a PPIC Intern. She graduated with a Master of Science in Food Safety and Microbiology from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. Her research focused on the microbial safety of food products with an emphasis on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) spread in the food chain. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology (Honors) from the Lebanese American University, Lebanon. Sarra completed both her master’s and bachelor’s degrees as a recipient of the fully funded Tomorrow's Leaders Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) scholarship funded by the U.S. Department of State for excellent academic standing and leadership potential. During her undergraduate journey, Sarra was also awarded a fully-funded opportunity to attend the University of California, Berkeley for an exchange semester in the United States. Sarra has acquired extensive research and laboratory skills working as a graduate student researcher at the Food Microbiology laboratory at the American University of Beirut where she developed experimental protocols and contributed to the AMR research taking place at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences.

Matheus Gouveia, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher, [email protected]

Matheus joined the PPIC team in November 2023 as Researcher III. Before he started in Dr. Pam Ismail’s lab, he was an exchange international student in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, working with Dr. Gary Reineccius in the flavors lab. Matheus has extensive experience with protein with different applications. During his undergraduate journey, he worked as research assistant in various enzymes purification projects studying extraction, purification, and characterization of proteases from Aspergillus fungi. Matheus holds a Master's and PhD of Food Engineering from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP) – Brazil, and his research focused on improvement of the functional and antioxidant properties of rice protein by enzymatic hydrolysis for the microencapsulation of oil by spray drying. His recent publications include a paper on the performance of rice protein hydrolysates as a stabilizing agent on oil-in-water emulsions and a paper on increasing the retention of anthocyanins in rice bran protein by acting as an encapsulating agent in the spray drying of grape juice. Apart from this, he has contributed to various research projects related to use modification of vegetable protein on microencapsulation process. In his free time, he likes to play basketball, go to the gym and watch the Brazilian football league.