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Our Team

Naturbeads team members are passionate about technology and the environment. We believe that global warming and plastic pollution need hard tech innovations and our scientists and engineers are committed to accelerate the scale up of our sustainable solutions

Olivia Walker

Editor in Chief

Dan Mitchell

Assistant Manager

Noah Patterson

Programming Editor

Tess Anderson

Art Director

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Davide Mattia

CTO & Co Founder

We trust Davide with all of our technical needs. Eager and curious, Davide proves that no technological feat is too big to tackle. From problem analysis to technological solutions, you want this hard working innovator in your corner. 

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Giuseppina Tufano

Chemical Engineer

Giuseppina recently graduated in Chemical Engineering at University of Naples, Federico II. During her master’s degree, she specialized in chemical product engineering, dealing with emulsions, suspensions, foams and studying their rheological behavior. Her Master thesis focused on water recovery processes for industrial applications. She joins Naturbeads to enhance the sustainability of the process, optimize beads production and expand their range of applications.

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Soren Lashkajani

Chemist

Soren completed his BSc in Chemistry with a focus on Analytical and Biochemistry from the University of Leicester, where he worked on synthesizing gold nanoparticles for therapeutics and drug delivery. He used advanced analytical techniques in his project to create a new synthesis method. Soren is joining the team to help produce beads and explore new techniques.

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Jason Parsons

Process Technician

A veteran business person who is always looking for the next big challenge, Jason has been with us since starting our company. Jason is an experienced R&D and manufacturing technician. He joins Naturbeads after 32 years of experience in DuPont MicroCircuit Materials where he gained expertise  in R&D, quality control, manufacturing, laboratory stewardship and risk assessment.

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Giovanna Laudisio

CEO and Co-Founder

Giovanna boasts nearly three decades of experience in the industry. Passionate about business and innovation, Giovanna managed to recruit an excellent team of professionals and win the attention of investors as well as the media.

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Ferdinando Radice

Biotech Research Assistant

Ferdinando recently graduated in Industrial Biotechnology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, with a final project focusing on scaffolds for cultured meat production. During his studies he worked as a peer-to-peer tutor and he was student representative. He joins Naturbeads to explore and validate possible biological applications for the cellulose beads.

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Kaya Baber

Chemist

Kaya studied Chemistry at Cardiff University, where she also completed her Masters project in Biochemistry. She has previously worked in the food testing industry and in a geotechnical laboratory before joining Naturbeads as a Chemist. At Naturbeads Kaya will work on the beads production process under an Innovate UK Smart grant, and will support the technical team in  expanding the range of applications of Naturbeads cellulose beads to prevent microplastics pollution.

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Alican Gençer

Senior Scientist

Alican is deeply committed to work on sustainability. He has a PhD degree in Chemistry from KU Leuven, where he worked on colloidal deposition of cellulose nanocrystals. During his MSc degree at KU Leuven he also developed wheat gluten based materials. Prior to Naturbeads, Alican was research fellow at Trinity College Dublin, developing materials for leading global ICT. He also spent two years at a pulp and paper mill as head of R&D and QMS. 

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Gianluca Merola

Chief Commercial Officer

A veteran business person who is always looking for the next big challenge, Gianluca has been with us since 2021. With his passion, expertise and network, Gianluca has managed to take our company to new highs and achieve growth.

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Katie Barnard

Chemist

Katie has a BSc in Biochemistry from Swansea University and is now completing a Master in Biochemistry at the University of Bristol (expected completion August 2022). Katie worked on wound healing and in vivo live imaging whilst gaining experience as a researcher.

She joins Naturbeads to work on the production and commercialisation of Naturbeads cellulose beads technology and will be of valuable help to further explore their  applications.

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Davide Califano

Protein Chemist

Davide is an extroverted protein chemist qualified in the design of nanocomposite soft-materials. He worked in several disciplines including bioprocess engineering, synthetic biology and colloidal science. During his academic career he engaged in different international projects. He  specialised in the design of cellulose/enzyme hybrids to be used as antimicrobial materials.

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Roger Whorrod

Business Adviser

Roger has a BSc and an MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA. He successfully built three businesses manufacturing electro-mechanical products for the construction and petrochemical markets. Outside of business his main interest is philanthropy, particularly with his alma mater, the University of Bath.  In  2016 the University of Bath awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering.

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