Mary Ann Lila, PhD

“There are plant materials that might not be familiar to us in science, but through traditional knowledge we know they have beneficial properties. We’re testing some to determine what potential they might hold for skin protection and resilience and cognitive function decline throughout aging.” 

Dr. Lila is passionate about shifting the way the American public views and uses food crops as a resource for components that protect and enhance human health, not just as a source of nutrients and flavorful calories.  

Her research focuses on the bioactive compounds found in some foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, that confer human health protection when ingested. She works specifically with blueberries, black currants, cranberries and other berries investigating anthocyanin, the pigment responsible for the red or deep blue colors associated with supporting heart health, cognitive benefits and other benefits.  

She has traveled the globe to validate the science of traditional ecological knowledge in indigenous tribal communities, using small-scale, handheld bioassays to test wildcrafted plant material from some of the world’s harshest environments and bring them to commercial attention. 

Dr. Lila’s studies have included the role of the gut microbiome in cognitive function in aging and how nutrition and diet can help prevent cognitive decline. She also researches skin resilience, studying plant-derived oral ingestibles and topicals for their protective function for skin disease, wrinkling, signs of aging and the ravages of pollution.  

Dr. Lila obtained her PhD in plant biology from the University of Wisconsin and her graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois, all in the United States. She is vice president of the Global Institute for Bioexploration and a frequent guest lecturer, as well as the recipient of many awards and honors.