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NURA
  • About
  • Products
  • New Flavours
  • Leadership
  • Quality
  • Events
  • Learn
  • Contact

Leadership

Meet the ingredient industry experts

We’re a team driven to making a difference to food, beverages, supplements, humans, pets, and
more. From small startups to global corporations, we’ve helped
businesses expand and thrive by sourcing them the right ingredients.

Team NURA

Lily Ruan

President
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Melissa Riddell

Director Of R&D
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Vanessa Hodges

Director Of Strategic Partnerships
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Jessie Liu

Purchasing Manager
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Danny Min

Director Of Operations
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Caydie Carrizosa

Marketing Manager
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Amanda Coons

Director Of Customer Service
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Helen Wang

China Office Manager
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Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)

Joe Regenstein

Joe M. Regenstein, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Cornell University
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Maria Marco

Maria L. Marco, PhD

Professor, University of California, Davis
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Dr. Girish Ganjyal, PhD

Professor, Washington State University
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Dr. Johan B. Ubbink, PhD

Professor, University of Minnesota
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Bringing over 100 combined years of experience in the dietary supplements, food, and beverage industries, our team is committed to providing you with the highest quality ingredients, focusing on sustainability and innovation. 

Visit our products page to learn more. 

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About

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Contact Us

  • 16912 Von Karman Ave, Unit B Irvine, CA 92606, USA
  • Contact@nurausa.com
  • 949-946-5700

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
**The information presented on or through the Website is made available solely for general information purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents. The Website and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design, selection and arrangement thereof), are owned by Nura USA LLC, its licensors or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on our Website. The Company name, its trademarks, the Company logo and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are trademarks of the Company or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company.

Lily Ruan

President

Lily Ruan is the founder and President of NURA. She has more than ten years of experience in the dietary supplement, food, and beverage ingredients industry. Lily leads the NURA team to be strong innovative, and passionate. She believes that having a growth mindset is the key to her team’s success. Lily also believes that consumer goods that contain healthy and clean ingredients can make for a better and long-term life. Furthermore, she holds a master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and lives in California with her husband and two boys. She is always here to listen and help when you need it.

Melissa Riddell

Director Of R&D

Melissa graduated with honors from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Food Science & Human Nutrition in 2000. She continued her education at UF until completing her Master of Science in Food Science one year later.

Melissa quickly entered the Consumer Goods industry at ACH Foods. She worked directly with pan spray release applications, liquid fats and oils, shortenings, corn starch, corn syrup, and salad dressings. After three years at ACH, Melissa left, contributing to the current domestic and international patent used for the Weber Grill brand, non-flammable grill spray formula, on the shelves today.

Moving to King & Prince Seafood, Melissa expanded her fats & oils knowledge to include developing and onsite manufacturing battered & breaded seafood items, cream-based dips, and other frozen food applications. After three years, Melissa transitioned to Tate & Lyle. For five years, she worked within the Technical Service team, developing out-of-box concepts, formulation and processing troubleshooting, and innovative ingredient technology collaboration on various applications. Melissa assumed the role of Head of Innovation & Technical Services at Batory Foods, where she developed Batory Sweet Essentials, the new line of five FDA-GRAS sweetener blends, as an easy replacement for sucrose for use across all food and beverage applications.

Melissa now resides in Southern California, working for NURA USA as the Director of Research & Development. Her team is responsible for the best-in-class technical support for functional ingredient recommendations, troubleshooting manufacturing processes, and innovative concept & ingredient development.

Vanessa Hodges

Director Of Strategic Partnerships

Vanessa Hodges brings over 20 years of experience in the food, beverage, and dietary supplement industry.

Vanessa’s expertise in working directly with brands, manufacturers, and vendors will continue to allow NURA to source high-quality ingredients and establish solid partnerships. In addition, she is passionate about supporting her local community and enjoys volunteering as a youth volleyball coach.

Jessie Liu

Purchasing Manager
Jessie Liu is our Purchasing Manager and has over ten years of experience in importing and exporting business goods. In addition, Jessie holds a master’s degree in Business Analytics, allowing her to bring fresh insight to our team and our partners. Her sincerity & passion for the industry is what help drive the success of the brand.

Danny Min

Director Of Operations
Danny Min is the Director of Operations at NURA, he streamlines all operational functions to maximize efficiency. He has over ten years of experience working in an FDA-regulated cGMP manufacturing facility specializing in managing and operating a fully GLP-compliant analytical laboratory. Danny also holds a master’s degree in science and pharmaceutical chemistry. He lives in California with his wife and two children. In his off-time, he enjoys playing golf and spending time with his kids.

Caydie Carrizosa

Marketing Manager
Caydie Carrizosa is NURA’s Marketing Manager. She brings over eight years of professional experience in Marketing, Media, and Advertising. She is passionate about NURA’s brand image and ensuring that our team and customers are taken care of with suitable materials and information. In addition, she enjoys supporting our customers by helping them select the right ingredients for their product line.

Amanda Coons

Director Of Customer Service
Amanda Coons is the Customer Service Manager for NURA. She has over five years of experience in the industry and began her career assisting sales reps, where she built a strong foundation in both customer service and industry knowledge. She is passionate about the nutrition industry while helping the team find new brands for the sales team to target. Amanda believes that providing the highest level of customer service is imperative to the long term, sustained growth and success of NURA.

Helen Wang

China Office Manager
Helen Wang is the China Office Manager for NURA. She has more than four years of experience in the dietary supplement, food, and beverage industry. Her favorite part of the job is working with our customers and staying up to date on product information. Furthermore, she has a bachelor’s degree from China Pharmaceutical University. Helen is the go-to employee when you need support.
Joe Regenstein

Joe M. Regenstein, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Cornell University

Dr. Regenstein is a Professor Emeritus of Food Science in the Department of Food Science (Agriculture and Life Sciences); Adjunct Professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences (Veterinary Medicine); Member of the Program of Jewish Studies (Arts and Sciences); and heads the Cornell Kosher and Halal Food Initiative. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Food Science at Kansas State University, where he teaches kosher and halal by distance learning. He is also a Distinguished Foreign Expert and Visiting Professor at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, Jiangsu, China. Both his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry (Arts and Sciences) and his Master of Science in Dairy Chemistry (Agriculture and Life Sciences) are from Cornell. He received a Ph.D. in Biophysics (Muscle Contraction) from Brandeis University. Dr. Regenstein spent a year at the Torry Research Station in Aberdeen, Scotland and was the Institute of Food Technologist’s (IFT) first Congressional Science Fellow in Washington, DC. In collaboration with his wife Carrie, Dr. Regenstein wrote ”Food Protein Chemistry, An Introduction for Food Scientists” and “An Introduction to Fish Technology”. With Dr. Robert Blair (Emeritus, University of British Columbia) he wrote “Genetic Modification and Food Quality”. Among his awards are the Earl P. McFee Award from the Atlantic Fisheries Technological Conference; the Bor Luh International Award, the Elizabeth Stier Humanitarian Award, the Carl Feller’s Career Achievement Award, and the Manfred Kroger Outstanding Reviewer Award from IFT. Dr. Regenstein received the Life Time Achievement Award from the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST). He is the first Guest Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology. And he is the Vice-President of the Global Harmonization Initiative (GHI). Dr. Regenstein is a member of the editorial boards of Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety and of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development.

Maria Marco

Maria L. Marco, PhD

Professor, University of California, Davis
Maria Marco is a Professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology and Chair of the Food Science Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Marco has  over 20 years’ experience investigating fermented foods, probiotics, and diet-dependent, host-microbe interactions in digestive tract. Her laboratory at UC Davis is broadly engaged in the study of food and intestinal microbiomes and the ecology and genetics of lactic acid bacteria.
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Dr. Girish Ganjyal, PhD

Professor, Washington State University

Dr. Girish Ganjyal is a Professor and Extension Food Processing Specialist at Washington State University (WSU) in the School of Food Science. Dr. Ganjyal established the Food Processing Extension and Research program at WSU in 2013. So far he has mentored a total of 19 graduate students as their major advisor. He has provided opportunities for over 38 undergraduate students to work in his program and gain valuable experiences in extrusion processing and ingredient functionality. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles and has 5 US patents. He and his team at WSU have provided training and project assistance to over 5000 industry professionals since 2013, in the areas of food processing and food safety.

Before joining WSU, from 2009 to 2013, Dr. Ganjyal worked as a Principal Engineer in the Advanced Research Team at PepsiCo, where he made significant contributions to extrusion processing and the frying process. He also worked as a Principal Scientist at MGP Ingredients, Inc., from 2004 to 2009, where he made considerable contributions in the areas of extrusion processing and protein ingredients. Numerous products that Dr. Ganjyal worked on over the last 19 years have been commercialized. Dr. Ganjyal provides extension services in the areas of food safety, food processing, and food quality for food businesses of all types and sizes.

Program Website: https://foodprocessing.wsu.edu/

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Dr. Johan B. Ubbink, PhD

Professor & Head of Department, University of Minnesota

Dr. Johan B. Ubbink is Professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. He was trained as a physical and polymer chemist at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands) and he obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands). He has worked for over 15 years in R&D positions in the food industry. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, he was associated with the California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo), the University of Bristol (UK) and the ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He was visiting scientist at Moscow State University (Russia) and he has taught as visiting professor at the School of Food Engineering, University of Campinas (Brazil). His research interests include the phase mapping and water management of texturized plant proteins, the glassy state in foods, the rheology of highly concentrated systems, the encapsulation & delivery of active ingredients in foods and the science of cooking.