Stephane Chaillou is a research director at MICALIS Institute, INRAE, Jouy-en-Josas, France. He’s the head of the Food Microbial Ecology research group and also teaches microbiome sciences at Université Paris-Saclay. His research focuses on genomics of food-borne bacteria and on the role of microbial diversity in food microbial ecology. One of his strategy is to implement statistical and bioinformatic analysis of large sampling survey for describing diversity of food microbiomes. He is also using the prediction of microbiomes fluxes along the food chain to assess food health and sustainability issues link to microbiomes such as food spoilage, bio-preservation or fermentation. More recently, He set up new research activities to understand metabolic interactions in foods using synthetic ecology strategies, in particular for understanding the interactions between food and human microbiomes in a nutrition and health perspective. Since March 2023, Stéphane coordinates DOMINO, a Horizon Europe 19 partner project.

Prof Paul Cotter is the Head of Food Biosciences at Teagasc (the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority), is a Principal Investigator with the large Irish Research Centres, APC Microbiome Ireland, VistaMilk and Food for Health Ireland and head of microbiology/co-founder of SeqBiome, a microbiome sequencing and bioinformatics service provider. He is a molecular microbiologist, with a particular focus on the microbiology of foods (especially fermented foods), the food systems and of humans, as well as probiotics and postbiotics. Prof Cotter is the author of >450 peer-reviewed, was included in the Clarivate list of highly cited researchers for 2018-2024, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Antwerp in 2024 and is the Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Microbiology.

Christophe Courtin is a full professor at the Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry at KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. His research focuses on cereal constituents and dietary fibre, the enzymes that degrade them and microorganisms in cereal processing and health. The emphasis is on a basic understanding of the structure and properties these components as well as on their technological and health functionality in cereal-based processes and products, using, amongst others, molecular biology as a tool. From September 2022, Christophe coordinates HealthFerm, a Horizon Europe 23 partner project. Recently, he organized and chaired the 8th Dietary Fibre Conference (2022)  in Leuven, Belgium.

Daniele Daffonchio is Professor of Environmental Microbiology at the University of Turin. In the last 10 years (2014-2024) he has been a Professor of Bioscience at KAUST, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Before KAUST, Daffonchio was Professor of Microbial Systems Biotechnology at the University of Milan, Italy. He got a PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides at the University of Milan in 1993. His research interests are on the microbial ecology and biotechnology of complex ecosystems in conventional and extreme aquatic and terrestrial habitats and of symbiotic systems. He has performed research on the microbiomes living in hot and cold deserts and arid lands, in extreme saline systems in the deep sea and the mangrove forests at tropical latitudes. His current research is on the soil microbiomes in agriculture with a focus on microbiome services in tree orchards such as grapevine and olive tree. While in Europe he has coordinated and participated to several EU research projects and in Saudi Arabia he led several projects on desert ecosystems and the Red Sea.

Gerlinde De Deyn is a professor in Soil Ecology at Wageningen University. She obtained her MSc in bio-engineering at Gent University (Belgium) with specialization in crop protection and research projects on biocontrol of pests and diseases. She got her PhD from Utrecht University, where she focused on the role of soil fauna in the restoration of biodiverse grassland. She continued her work on soil-plant interactions as Postdoc in Canada, the UK and The Netherlands, with the goal to better understand the coupling between plant traits, plant diversity, soil biodiversity and soil functioning. Gerlinde enjoys team work and over the years her collaborative projects expanded to other continents and disciplines, including remote sensing, food fermentation microbiology, and art/science endeavors. She has a broad interest in Soil health in natural and agroecosystems and its role in Global health and how these can be managed for the better.

Eiko Kuramae is a Senior Scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and Professor in Microbial Community Ecology & Environmental Genomics at Utrecht University. She investigates soil microbial community interactions, with a strong focus on the Nitrogen cycle, to understand and improve ecosystem function. Utilizing omics, bioinformatics, and statistical modeling, her research addresses the impact of land use and climate change on microbial diversity and function, predicting consequences for sustainable agriculture and bio-based systems. Her research develops microbial solutions for greenhouse gas mitigation, land restoration, and the development of beneficial microbial consortia and communities to enhance crop production. Projects focus on climate-proof soils, nutrient recycling, microbial farming, and microbiome interactions with sorghum and rice exudates to improve nitrogen efficiency. She leads international collaborations with Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Africa, China, and Japan, exploring microbiome-plant co-dependency to optimize nutrient cycling, soil health, and reduce N₂O emissions for sustainable agriculture. She has received prestigious awards, including two CAPES Honor Awards, a Phytopathology Society Award, Brazilian President's Honor Award, UNESP Honor Award, Young Geneticist Award, and FAPESP Young Scientist Award.

Marnix Medema is a Professor of Bioinformatics at Wageningen University and Leiden University. His research group develops and applies algorithms for the (meta)genomic identification and functional prediction of microbial biosynthetic pathways, with the aim to unravel the chemical language of microbiomes. He built and co-coordinates the development of the antiSMASH software for identification of biosynthetic gene clusters and developed various additional algorithms to chart their diversity and identify their functional roles in microbiomes. Medema is recipient of NWO Rubicon, Veni and Vidi fellowships and an ERC Starting Grant, and has coordinated several international consortia studying bacterial specialized metabolites. He received several prizes for his work, including the NBIC Young Investigator Award. He is editorial board member of mSystems and FEMS Microbes, and senior editor of ISME Communications. Also, he is member of the scientific advisory board of Hexagon Bio.

Rosa Pérez holds a pHD in Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Bromatology (2010). Currently, she is “Ramon y Cajal” researcher at Food and Health Omics group- University of Vigo (Spain) and external researcher at LAQV-REQUIMTE-University of Porto (Portugal). Her main research area falls within the study of study of bioactive compounds in food, focusing on their potential health benefits and their effects on human nutrition. Specific objectives goes through integrating and developing research directions to use of polyphenols as modulators of immune reactions to food. Polyphenols bioacessibility, bioavailability and bioactivity as well as polyphenols interactions with immunoreactive proteins, gut microbiota and cell signalling are studied by a foodomics approach (metabolomics and proteomics). Her work often explores how food ingredients, including plant-based compounds and their interaction with the human microbiome, can impact health outcomes. She is involved in various research projects aimed at improving the nutritional quality of food and developing sustainable, allergen-free food products to meet the growing demand for health-conscious and environmentally friendly options.

Ana Portugal Melo serves as Executive Director of MIRRI-ERIC, since September 2023. She holds a degree in Applied Plant Biology  and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, complemented by postgraduate studies in General Management and a MBA in Management of Research Infrastructures.

Before joining MIRRI-ERIC, Ana served as Executive Director of Portuguese Node of ELIXIR for five years and previously as Director of Cooperation at the Tropical Research Institute, in Portugal. 

With 20 years of experience in plant, fungi, and bacterial bioenergetics, she is enthusiastic in bridging scientific research with strategic management.

Alexandre Rosado is a Professor of Biosciences at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Previously, he served as a full professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and as a visiting professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources at the University of California, Davis. He has also held leadership positions as Director of the Institute of Microbiology at UFRJ and Vice President of the Brazilian Society of Microbiology. He is also a Global Ambassador for Applied Microbiology International (AMI), a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and a member of Soil Stars.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences, a master’s degree in Microbiology, and a PhD in Microbiology from UFRJ, with a thesis developed at Wageningen University & Research (WUR), the Netherlands. His work covers microbial ecology, extremophiles, microbiome science, biotechnology, novel metabolic pathways, and bioremediation.

Nicola Segata, Ph.D., is Professor and Principal Investigator in the CIBIO Department at the University of Trento (Italy) and Principal Investigator at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan (Italy). His lab (http://segatalab.cibio.unitn.it/) comprises more than 25 researchers and employs experimental metagenomic tools and novel computational approaches to study the diversity of the microbiome across conditions and populations with specific focuses in oncology and nutrition. The projects in the lab bring together computer scientists, microbiologists, statisticians, and clinicians and are focused on profiling microbiomes with strain-level resolution and on the meta-analysis of very large sets of metagenomes with novel computational tools. The lab aims at further understanding the human microbiome and translating the new knowledge into clinically relevant tools.

Dr. Angela Sessitsch is Head of the Bioresources Unit at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. She studied biochemistry at the University of Technology in Graz, holds a PhD in Microbiology from the Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and is habilitated at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. She has pioneered plant-associated microbiomes and is interested in understanding the interactions between plants, microbiomes and the environment as well as to develop applications. Her team explores the diversity and functioning of plant microbiota by applying a range of molecular approaches, interaction modes between plants and model bacteria, colonization behaviour of endophytes as well as various application technologies for biocontrol and crop enhancement applications. Together with her group A. Sessitsch published more than 250 peer-reviewed publications and is co-inventor of several patents. She co-chairs the EPSO Working Group “Plants and Microbiomes” and is current President of the international MicrobiomeSupport Association.

Jan Sikkema is managing director of the Holomicrobiome Institute, a national program aimed at accelerating applications of microbiome knowledge. He is also technical director of Fascinating, a public private partnership that develops and tests innovations for the sustainable production of healthy food. Jan studied Microbiology and Biochemistry at the University of Groningen and obtained his PhD in Industrial Microbiology at the Wageningen University. After graduation he worked in the R&D departments of Snow Brand Milk Products and Royal Friesland Foods. In 2007 he was appointed Program Director of the TI Food and Nutrition, a public private partnership combining the research expertise of academia and major food companies. In 2011, after the successful international expansion of TIFN, he moved to Groningen where he became Director of the Technology Transfer Organization of the University of Groningen and the UMCG.

HJ (Ine) van der Fels-Klerx is principle scientist at Wageningen Food Safety Research, and special professor Food Safety Economics at the Wageningen University. She has a MSc in Epidemiology and holds a PhD in Animal health Economics. Since 2001, she works in the Food Safety domain, specifically in food safety economics and management, mostly applying models and data.  Currently, she is coordinator of the European project HOLiFOOD, and involved in several other European projects (GIANT LEAPS, FoodSafeR and UPRISE).

Studied Veterinary Medicine in Vienna; Research fellowships at Biozentrum Würzburg and Complutense University in Madrid (1998-2000). Diplomate of the European College of Veterinary Public Health (2004). Appointed Professor for Molecular Food Microbiology in 2008; Head of the Institute for Food Safety, Food Technology and Veterinary Public Health, Unit Food microbiology until 2023. Since 2024 Head of the Center for Food Science and Food Systems Safety

Head of the Christian-Doppler Laboratory for Molecularbiological Food Analytics (2006 -2013), Scientific Director of the Austrian Competence Center for Feed and Food Quality, Safety and Innovation since 2017 (www.ffoqsi.at, Collaborative Research Center)

Coordinator COMET Competence-Project Preventive Veterinary Medicine (2010-2013); Scientific Coordinator of EU FP 6 Integrated Project BIOTRACER (2006-2011); Coordinator of EU FP 7 KBBE PROMISE (2012-2014), Coordinator COMET Competence-Project Advanced Dairying in Austria (2014-2017). Coordinator of the Horizon Europe funded project “FoodSafeR” (www.foodsafer.com, 2024-2026).

Main interest in Listeria food interaction, pathogen transmission, microbiome pathogen interaction, disinfection and applied food hygiene. Has published 280 papers in peer reviewed journals and holds eight patents. Has received numerous awards, was shortlisted as Austrian Researcher of the Year 2016.