Microbes and Infections

Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai is an American biologist best known for advancement of understanding of the intricate relationship between animals and microbes. She currently is director of the Pacific Biosciences Research Center and Professor in the Department of Biology and the Kewalo Marine Laboratory at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai is a professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Public Health, and member of the Symbiosis Cluster group, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Eye Research Institute. Her laboratory studies two areas: 1) the role of beneficial bacteria in health using the squid-vibrio model; 2) the biochemical and molecular ‘design’ of tissues that interact with light. In addition, she has been heavily involved in promoting microbiology as the cornerstone of the field of biology.

Research focuses on host responses to interactions with beneficial microbes. Within this context, the studies of my laboratory address five major questions: 1. How are environmentally rare bacteria harvested from the host's habitat during the onset of a horizontally transmitted symbiosis? 2. By what mechanisms does the host recognize its specific symbiotic partner(s)? 3. What are the influences of symbiotic bacteria on the developmental of the host tissues with which they associate? 4. How is the symbiont population maintained in balance over the host's lifetime, such that neither does the symbiont overgrow the host nor does the host eliminate the symbiont? 5. What are the similarities and differences between pathogenic and beneficial animal-bacterial interactions?

Dr. Fischetti has over 40 years experience in the anti-infectives field. He is Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology at the Rockefeller University, in NY. Over those years his laboratory has been involved in understanding the earliest events in gram-positive bacterial infection, so that strategies may be devised to prevent infection. His laboratory was the first to identify lytic enzymes as novel therapeutics to decolonize human mucous membranes of bacterial pathogens and treat systemic infections caused by these organisms. The first lysin against serious Staphylococcal infections has successfully completed phase 1 and is currently in phase 2 testing in hospitals. His laboratory also identified the mechanism by which gram-positive bacteria attach their surface proteins in the cell, which is now being used as a target for antibiotic development. Dr. Fischetti is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the National Academy of Inventors, and was the recipient of two NIH MERIT awards. He has been editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Infection and Immunity for 10 years, and serves as advisory editor for the Journal of Experimental Medicine and Trends in Microbiology among others. Dr. Fischetti serves on the scientific advisory board of ContraFect, Bioharmony, and the Trudeau institute and is also a trustee of the Trudeau Institute. He has published over 240 primary research articles, over 70 textbook chapters and is a co-editor of two major books on gram-positive pathogens. He is an inventor of over 40 issued patents dealing with the control of infectious diseases. Dr. Fischetti received a Ph.D. in Microbiology from New York University.

Investigates bacterial infectious disease and the use of phage enzymes and their derivatives to block infection.

Dr. Rosario Russo is the Scientific Officer of Giellepi S.p.A. (Italy) and his main expertise concerns healthy effects of nutraceuticals. He is currently involved in the biological evaluation of plant extracts and probiotics both in preclinical and clinical studies. In 2010, he received PhD in Toxicology focusing his research on preclinical evaluation of biological activity of natural products. He was trained in Pathology and technologies applied to laboratory animals and in 2013 get the Master of Science in Preclinical and clinical research and development of drugs. From 2006 to 2013, he worked at University of Naples Federico II in the laboratory of Toxicology. During that period, he collaborated with many public research organizations, where he focused his research on the immunomodulatory effects of natural compounds and food contaminants.

Healthy effects of nutraceuticals

Dr. Laura Knoll is currently Professor of Medical Microbiology & Immunology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Molecular & Genome Biology of Microbes; Immunology

Dr. Mozhgan Sepehri is an Assistant Professor of plant-microbe interactions at Shiraz University, Iran. Dr. Sepehri’s research program provides novel insights into host adaptation to environmental stresses induced by plant microbial communities. She incorporates biotechnological approaches such as proteomics and metabolomics to decipher the molecular mechanisms of induced abiotic stresses in plants by beneficial microorganisms. Dr. Sepehri seeks a fuller understanding of the phytobiome as a natural supply of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms with the individual or collective capacity to promote plant health.

• Plant-Microbe Interactions • Integrated Omics Approaches in Plant Systems Biology • Phyllosphere Microbiology • Bio and Phyto-Bioremediation of Heavy Metal Contaminantion

Professor, MD, PhD, Lia Monica Junie, from the Microbiology Department of “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is head of the Department, coordinating also, the activities of both Laboratory Medicine specialty resident doctors and PhD doctor’s thesis in the medicine field. She unfolds a fruitful National and International scientific activity as an experienced microbiologist, having an impressive CV. She is Member in the Board of Scientific Societies, Reviewer in many peer-reviewed journals, Expert of the Ministry of Education and Research and Evaluator. She coordinated research projects, published books and more than 200 scientific articles in prestigious Journals. She organized and attended numerous national, international congresses, as president, member in the Organizing Committees, Invited speaker, Keynote speaker or Chairperson.

Infectious Diseases and Microbiology

Terry Hazen is an environmental biologist specializing in bioremediation and bioenergy. Hazen’s research focuses on how naturally occurring bacteria can sometimes break down and detoxify hazardous materials. He is also working with a team of researchers who have developed a method of using bacteria to help test for the presence of a wide array of pollutants. Hazen holds a joint appointment with the College of Engineering’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and the College of Arts and Sciences’ departments of Microbiology and Earth and Planetary Sciences. He is also director of the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment (ISSE). Plus, he works closely with the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Biological Sciences and the Center for Environmental Biotechnology.

Environmental Microbiology

Prof Sanguinetti is currently the director of Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Italy. He is an extraordinary professor working on a diversified group of fungi and fungal infections like keratitis, histoplasmosis etc. Apart from this, his research is also focussed on other major bacterial and viral diseases.

Mycology, Bacteriology, Virology

Prof. Paul M. Tulkens, MD, PhD serves as Academic Advisor at Achaogen, Inc. He served as Advisor and Consultant of SelectX Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He started his scientific career as a cell biologist and biochemist working in the laboratory of Prof. C. de Duve, Nobel Laureate, where he made significant contributions to understanding of membrane movements during endocytosis, including receptor recycling, and in the development of models of acquired lysosomal storage disorders. He then moved to the study of the cellular and renal toxicity of aminoglycoside antibiotics, the mechanism of which he greatly contributed to decipher and for which he pioneered in reducing the clinical impact by promoting the now widely used once-daily dosing approach. From then on, he expanded his studies on antibiotics (macrolides, fluroquinolones) and intracellular infections (mainly S. aureus but more recently also P. aeruginosa). He also developed the science of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics for optimising the use of antibiotics. He was amongst the founding members and was President of the International Society of Antiinfective Pharmacology. He is a Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universite Catholique de Louvain. Until 2010, he was full professor of Pharmacology and Drug Development at the French speaking Catholic University of Louvain (Brussels, Belgium) and professor of Human Biochemistry and Biochemical Pathology at the University of Mons (Mons, Belgium). He is an invited and emeritus professor of medicine and pharmacy departments at Universite catholique de Lovain, Belgium. He has published more than 230 scientific papers and continues, with his laboratory, to develop basic and applied approaches to the study of antibiotics and bacterial infections. He serves as a Member of Clinical Advisory Board of Kenta Biotech Ltd. Dr. Tulkens studied at Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.

Pathophysiology of lysosomes, Antibiotic toxicity, Pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, Bacterial Persistence, Biofilms, Intracellular Infections

Provorov Nikolai completed his PhD at the age of 26 from All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology. He is the deputy director in research of All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology. Provorov Nikolai published over 20 papers in reputed international journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of international journal Annals of Applied Biology. The scope of his expertize includes: evolutionary genetics of symbiosis, mathematical simulation of population dynamics, genetic construction of symbiotically active microbes.

Agricultural Microbiology

Marco Manfredi MD, PhD, pediatrician and gastroenterologist, carried out his education at Parma University where completed his PhD in Pediatric Gastroenterology in 2004. Currently he is working as Manager of Pediatric Emergency and Assistant Manager in Pediatric Gastroenterology at “Pietro Barilla” Children's Hospital in Parma, Italy. His main fields of interests are Helicobacter pylori infection, coeliac disease, gastrointestinal infectious diseases, and probiotics. Dr Manfredi published more than 70 papers, included chapters of textbooks. He is editor of three textbooks on “Helicobacter pylori infection”, “Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in Children” and “Probiotics in Children” all published by Nova Science Publishers, New York, USA. He is serving as an editorial board member of several reputed journal like “Clinical Microbiology: open access” and “Frontiers in Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology” and expert reviewer for BMC Gastroenterology, Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology, BMC Case Reports. He is a member of Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (SIGENP).

Helicobacter pylori infection, coeliac disease, gastrointestinal infectious diseases, and probiotics

Lynne Garcia is currently serving as the director for LSG and Associates at Santa Monica, California which offers consulting, teaching and training services. She has delivered more than 350 oral presentations at various conferences and her work has been published in over 175 peer-reviewed journals. She is an editorial board member for 11 journals. She has received many awards and honors from well-known, reputed societies and organizations.

Clinical Microbiology, Parasitology.

I am researcher from Federal University of Sergipe/Brazil. I concluded my PhD in 2013 and my research line is about human papillomavirus infeccion in women and male partners. I published papers in reputed journals. My technical production is available in: http://lattes.cnpq.br/5891504776117256

HPV

Dr. Choudhary received his PhD from McMaster University and later joined Duke University for his post-doctoral research. He is currently associated with Sam Houston State University as an Associate Professor in the department of Biological Sciences. His research interests are in bacterial cell-cycle regulation, role of gene duplication in metabolic innovations, and evolution of genomic complexity in prokaryotes. Rhodobacter sphaeroides, a member of alpha-3 Proteobacteria, is used as a model organism for these investigations in his laboratory.

Microbial Genetics, Genomics, and Bioinformatics

Hoongmin Qin, PhD, carried out her education at Shandong University, China and attained PhD from The Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China in 1999. Currently, she is working as associate professor in Texas A&M University, USA. Research in her lab is focussed on simple eukaryotic microorganism Chlamydomonas to understand the assembly of cilium, which has been implicated in a wide spectrum of human diseases. Her interests also include conceptual frameworks that govern organelle biogenesis and the corresponding regulations. Being selected as a TAMU nominee for Searle Scholar Program in 2004 and attaining polycystic kidney disease foundation post-doctoral fellowship in 2002 is a part of her significant professional activities. Dr. Qin has around 25 peer-reviewed publications in international journals

Chlamydomonas, Cilium biogenesis

Dr. Nielsen received her doctorate from North Carolina State University in 2001. Later, she joined University of Minnesota as Assistant Professor and is currently working there as an associate professor of microbiology. Her research interests include fungal infectious diseases. Her laboratory is focussed on studies of Cryptococcus neoformans. It is an opportunistic human pathogenic fungus that causes cryptococcosis, which commonly presents as a disseminated meningoencephalitis that is universally fatal if untreated. An integral and defining feature of cryptococcosis is the ability of C. neoformans to cross the blood-brain barrier. In recent years the process of C. neoformans entry into the central nervous system (CNS) has begun to be elucidated, but the methods by which C. neoformansinduces these processes remains unknown. If the mechanisms by which C. neoformans crosses the blood-brain barrier can be identified and characterized, treatment strategies can be designed to reduce C. neoformans entry into the CNS to alleviate disease symptoms and permit increased exposure to antifungal drugs. Her work has been published in many peer-reviewed international journals.

Cryptococcus neoformans and CNS disorders

Shambhu Kumar, a Fungal taxonomist, did his Ph.D. in Botany (Fungal taxonomy) from the DDU Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur in 2010. He has awarded Junior Research Fellow in November 2010 by the Botanical Survey of India. He has joined the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow as Senior Research Fellow (SRF) in May 2011. He was awarded Young Scientist by Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India in September 2013 and presently working as Young Scientist in the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India. He has published thirty five research papers related to diversity and taxonomy of foliicolous fungi in peer reviewed and reputed International and National Journals. He has attended and presented papers in several National and International symposia/conferences and acquired six National training /workshops on Biodiversity and molecular taxonomy. He is a member of the International Society for Fungal Conservation (ISFC), UK and Life member of the Mycological Society of India, Chennai; Society for Basic and Applied Mycology, Jabalpur, India and Annual member of the Indian Phytopathological Society, IARI, New Delhi as well as an Indian Botanical Society. He is an Editorial member of the Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology, American Journal of Agricultural Science and also a potential reviewer of Mycotaxon, Journal of Plant Pathology & Microbiology, American Journal of Agricultural Science and Premier Publication.

Fungal Taxonomy