RIT alumni are shaping new careers: Cannabis food scientist

OGeez! cannabis gummies claim they are soft, bouncy, and delicious. Behind the scenes, it’s food scientist Lauren Tamburro ’04 (biochemistry) who is making sure the gummies live up to their marketing tag line.

As vice president of production for the company, Tamburro comes up with new non-medicated formulas. Once everyone agrees on a taste profile, she sends the formula on to be made into medicated gummies. From concept through scale up, to commercialization through launch and consumer feedback, she oversees it all.

Tamburro worked at Cadbury in analytical chemistry after graduating from RIT. In her 11 years with the company, she worked her way up to a senior scientist after earning a master’s degree in food science from Rutgers University. She then made the career move to smaller, startup companies. A lot of startups don’t think to have food scientists on staff, and Tamburro has proven her worth in the companies she’s worked with.

The legalization of cannabis has created a new industry in food distribution. Today, the global legal market value is at least $40 billion, and the industry employs more than 400,000 U.S. workers. As it continues to grow and expand, it needs experts to research, discover, and formulate products for medicinal and recreational use.

“The thing with cannabis is because it was under prohibition for so long, it’s like this wonderful bit of science just cracked open,” said Tamburro. “There’s so much research to be done. There’s so much to learn and understand. We’re really just at the beginning of it from a scientific standpoint.”

As an undergraduate, Tamburro had a love for science and learning but wasn’t sure what she wanted to do in her career. Her biochemistry degree from RIT taught her the fundamental skills that have helped her find success in a fast-growing industry.

While most children are taught not to play with their food, Tamburro now spends her workdays testing different flavors and textures in her home lab in Canandaigua, N.Y. She aims to keep the OGeez! brand competitive in the cannabis gummy market, along with all the other aspects of production that she oversees.