Stout joins the Department of Biomedical Engineering

The School of Engineering is excited to announce that Andrew Stout, EG22, will be joining the Tufts faculty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering on September 1, 2025. Stout also joins the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) as the first full time professor focused on future of food efforts, with his appointment being part of a five person cluster hire for cellular agriculture over the next few years. 

Stout is no stranger to Tufts. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2022 under Stern Family Professor David Kaplan. Prior to Tufts, Stout earned his BS in materials science and nanoengineering from Rice University. His early career experiences as a research assistant at Maastricht University in Dr. Mark Post’s lab, who debuted a cultured hamburger on live television in 2013, and a research associate at Geltor Inc. laid the foundation for his work in cellular agriculture.

In 2017, he was selected for a New Harvest Research Fellowship, which supports graduate and postdoctoral researchers in the cultured meat industry. With support from the fellowship, Stout began his PhD research in the Kaplan Lab at Tufts where he made significant contributions to cell line development and serum-free media for cultured meat production.

In 2023, Stout became an entrepreneur-in-residence through the Office of the Vice Provost for Innovation (OVPI) at Tufts. He currently serves as the Director of Science at the Cellular Agriculture Commercialization Lab, an OVPI initiative that brings cellular agriculture innovation into the real world by advancing early-stage high-impact technologies from proof-of-concept through commercial deployment.

The connections Stout made during his time at Tufts have continued to shape his career. In 2024, Stout and fellow Tufts alumni from the Kaplan Lab, Natalie Rubio, and John Yuen Jr., co-founded Deco Labs. The Boston-based research group bridges academic and industry efforts in cellular agriculture. Stout currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer of Deco Labs.

In his new role as Assistant Professor, Stout will continue to focus on cellular agriculture and cultivated meat production. He looks forward to bringing his extensive expertise to the classroom to shape the next generation of leaders in this growing field.