We Are Cortex | Shalaka Burlawar

It’s not a stretch to suggest that Shalaka Burlawar is creating the foods of the future.

Burlawar is a senior scientist for IFF, a research and product development company that specializes in food, beverage, scent, home and personal care, and health.

The company has offices and research facilities around the globe, but from its Cortex-based headquarters in St. Louis, Burlawar’s team works with plant-based soy proteins to develop products with the flavors, textures and aromas of chicken, beef or seafood — potential alternatives to the real thing.

“My role is to interact with customers, build new products for them,” Burlawar said. “My role requires me to go all the way from the initial science of how to develop the ingredients to the final product.”

That process starts with soy bean seeds and moves into isolating specific plant proteins, processing those proteins into new shapes and textures, consulting with customers on flavor and scent profiles and testing new products.

Burlawar brings years of rich research and industry experience to the role, starting with her Ph.D. in biological and chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin, through dozens of research paper citations as a university researcher, according to Google Scholar, and nearly four years at IFF.

She values the diversity of thought and experience available throughout Cortex — from other scientists, of course, but also from the spectrum of other industries, innovators and entrepreneurs.

“It’s really inspiring to see that there is not just science and technology companies around, but also multiple different organizations like humanity development and other things,” she said. “It's a very good hub of learning together and building the community.”

As a scientist, Burlawar has found that diversity is essential to progress and innovation. 

“To think differently, we need to work with different people,” she said. “Just thinking differently helps to create new solutions. When you work together, you can actually come up with new ways of solving problems. Cortex is the right place for it.”