Leila Strickland
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer Totality Biosciences
Leila Strickland is an entrepreneurial scientific leader and inventor on 5 patents related to the biotechnology of human milk. She holds a PhD in cell biology and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University, focused on fundamental mechanisms of cellular organization. She founded her first company, BIOMILQ, in 2020 to develop human mammary cells for milk production, and she currently leads Totality Biosciences in the development of genetically engineered food crops for the production of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). As a mother and scientist, Dr Strickland is passionate about innovation to improve health from day one and across the lifespan.
Seminars
Thursday 11th June 2026
Engineering the Full Spectrum of Human Milk Oligosaccharides at Global Scale
11:30 am
- Examine how plant-based bioengineering unlocks the production of structurally complex and high-value HMOs that have been difficult or impossible to manufacture using microbial fermentation platforms
- Explore scalable pathways for producing a broad diversity of HMOs at lower cost, leveraging agricultural systems to improve yield, consistency, and economic viability for widespread infant formula adoption
- Discuss how access to the full spectrum of HMOs can better support infant gut microbiome development and immune health, enabling formula designs that more closely reflect the functional complexity of human milk
- Assess the scientific, manufacturing, and investment considerations for translating plant-derived HMO platforms from research breakthroughs into commercially viable, globally accessible nutrition solutions for infants and beyond
