Applied Microbiology and Beneficial Microbes

Dr. Brennan began his life-long involvement in tuberculosis and leprosy research in 1962 under Professor Frank Winder at Trinity College Dublin. His Ph.D. studies helped establish for the first time that the killing effect of isoniazid on the tuberculosis (TB) bacillus was through inhibition of the synthesis of mycolic acid. Under Professor Clinton Ballou at the University of California, Berkeley, he was responsible for the early definitive work on the biosynthesis of the phosphatidylisositolmannosides (PIMs) of mycobacteria.
On his return to Ireland, Dr. Brennan was Research Lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry, Trinity College Dublin, and subsequently Lecturer in Biochemistry at University College Dublin. Dr. Brennan returned to the U.S. in 1975, to positions at National Jewish Hospital and the University of Colorado Medical Center, and in 1980 to Colorado State University.
Over the past 35 years, he has led research teams in conducting some of the most fundamental research on the nature of the tuberculosis and leprosy organisms:
(i) definition of the structure, biosynthesis, and genetics of the core cell wall of the TB bacterium and the mode of action of several key TB drugs;
(ii) discovery and molecular definition of LAM, the key ligand in the interactions of the TB organism with host cells;
(iii) the discovery and molecular structure of PGL I (phenolic glycolipid I), the specific antigen/marker of the leprosy organism and its application to the selective diagnosis of leprosy;
(iv) the introduction of the first skin test antigen for leprosy diagnosis for a leprosy endemic area;
(v) definition of the chemical basis of the serotype difference of most of the non-tuberculosis mycobacteria.
Brennan has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications in these and related areas. He has attracted over $20 million in research funds to the University. In 1998, he was named one of 12 University Distinguished Professors at Colorado State University and in 2004 he was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology. He is Editor-in-Chief of Tuberculosis and an editor of Pathogens and Disease and a former editor of Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Tuberculosis and Leprosy research

Professor Ibrahim M. Banat, Professor of Microbial Biotechnology at the University of Ulster, UK. Has more than 30 years’ experience in academic and research institutions in Europe and internationally and has several active collaborative project within the EU and other international academic and industrial establishments.

Research interests include biosurfactants and bio-actives production and potential utilization in environmental oil pollution control and hydrocarbon polluted land bioremediation and microbial enhanced oil recovery. He also recently concentrating on investigating biomedical, pharmaceutical, health and cosmetics related applications of biosurfactants. Prof. Banat also has interest and worked on molecular and cell biology of thermophilic Geobacilli bacteria and bioethanol fermentation and the molecular biology of biosurfactant producers.

Head of Microbiology Laboratory& Medicine Residency Coordinator, supervisor PhD in Medicine and also a member of the leadership of in ESC, ESGP & ESCMID. Prof Monica is also a member of the editorial staff / reviewer of national and international journals. She has been awarded with a honorary diploma by the National Society of Parasitology. She is a visiting professor of the Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Parasitology, Infection Control, Microbiology

Assoc. Prof. Helena Bujdáková, is the head of the Department of Microbiology and Virology, Faculty Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. She is a specialist in medical microbiology. She has had experiences with a management of national projects, but also with those bilateral ones with Austria, Armenia and Ukraine. She was a partner of the consortium in the project CanTrain Marie Curie Research Training Network (FP6) funded by EU. She got Fulbright and JSPS scholarships for research / teaching stays in USA and Japan.
She is also Vice President of the Czechoslovak Society for Microbiology, the bilateral organization joining Slovak and Czech microbiologists. She has been a member of the Group for teaching Microbiology in Europe, established at FEMS (Federation of European Microbiological Societies). Regularly she gave invited lectures at national and international conferences and congresses. In this very challenging and competitive science discipline, she published more than 60 reviewed articles indexed in Web of Sciences that have been cited more than 450 times.

she has worked in various topics dealing with microbial biofilms, especially, aimed at yeasts from the genus Candida.She has also been actively involved in the consortium COST Action iPROMEDAI TD1305 (Improved Protection of Medical Devices, 2014-2018).

Natalia Tschowri studied Biology at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she also obtained her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Regine Hengge with a thesis on blue light signalling in the control of biofilm formation in Escherichia coli. In September 2012 she joined Prof. Mark Buttner’s lab at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK as a PostDoc. Funded by the EMBO longterm fellowship, she began to work on c-di-GMP signalling in Streptomyces. Back in Berlin in October 2013 she continued with her studies on the role of cyclic di-nucleotides in Streptomyces developmental biology and is now an independent group leader at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Role of cyclic di-nucleotides in Streptomyces developmental biology

Dr. Amparo Gamero Lluna works as Assistant Professor in Nutrition and Bromatology area at the University of Valencia, Spain. She holds an European Ph.D in Food Science, Technology & Management as well as Human Nutrition & Dietetics and Food Science & Technology degrees. Her main research topic is the study of aroma production by yeasts in food products, especially alcoholic beverages. The yeasts studied are Saccharomyces species, their natural interspecific hybrids and non-conventional yeasts. Her research interests reflect in her wide range of publications in international journals and her participation in congresses at international level. She has worked and carrying out short stays at different universities, research centers and companies of different European countries: Spain (Spanish National Research Council, CSIC; University of Valencia; University of Zaragoza; AINIA technology centre), The Netherlands (NIZO food research; Fungal Biodiversity Center, CBS-KNAW), Denmark (University of Copenhagen; Carlsberg Research Center; Christian Hansen) and Belgium (University of Leuven).

study of aroma production by yeasts in food products

Dr. Bożena Futoma-Kołoch graduated from University of Wrocław in 2004. She received her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Wrocław in 2008. After that, she has held an academic position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology in the Institute of Genetics and Microbiology at University of Wrocław. She is a member of Polish Society of Microbiologists, and International Complement Society. She has published more than 50 papers in national and international journals, 30 presentations at congresses, with several awards. Dr. Futoma-Kołoch's research program focuses on bacterial surface antigens as molecular targets of the protective immune response and their role in bacterial resistance to disinfectants.

bacterial surface antigens as molecular targets of the protective immune response and their role in bacterial resistance to disinfectants.

Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006 -. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and Virus Sphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). President Foundation de Beaumont Bonelli for Cancer Research.
His basic researches have been concerned with antigens induced early during the replication cycle of human herpesviruses. Another study has involved the identification, isolation and characterization of specific virus-induced tumour antigens, which were the "finger-prints" left behind in human cancer. Achievements include patents in field; discovery of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in infant deaths in Naples and of tumor liberated protein as a tumor associated antigen, 55 kilodalton protein overexpressed in lung tumors and other epithelial adenocarcinomas.

Viral Oncology, Tumor Liberated Protein (TLP), Emerging Viral Agents at Risk in Global Health Approaches to Early Diagnosis and Prompt Therapy

Dr. Judith Ascher-Jenull received her Master degree in Natural Sciences, Biology, Microbiology, from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, in 1998, and her PhD in Agricultural Chemistry from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Piacenza, Milan, Italy, in 2004. After graduation (till today) she worked at the Department of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science - now the Department of Agrifood and Environmental Science, University of Florence, Florence, Italy, as a research soil microbiologist. Since 2012 she is collaborating with the Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria as senior researcher.
She has published over 50 articles and 6 book chapters in the field of environmental molecular microbial ecology (e.g. linking microbial diversity and soil function; Responses of microbial communities to natural vs. anthropogenic environmental changes; Soil metamobilome: fate and ecological relevance of extracellular DNA), 34 in ISI journals with > 50 co-authors, with > 1500 citations in > 1000 documents (Scopus and Research Gate), resulting in a current scientific Hirsch-factor (H-index) of 14. Dr. Ascher-Jenull is currently active in collaborating with the University of Innsbruck (Austria), University of Zuerich (Switzerland) and the University of Osnabrueck (Germany) within the D.A.CH.-DecAlp Project on the “Effect of climate on coarse woody debris decay dynamics and incorporation into the soils of forested Alpine areas”, aiming at a multidisciplinary use of humus forms as missing link between the micro- and macro scale. She was/is active as reviewer for > 15 ISI Journals and since February 2014 she is Editor-in-Chief of Applied Soil Ecology (Elsevier).

Her scientific interest is also focused on the evaluation and optimisation of DNA-based molecular methods (sequential extraction of the soil metagenome: extra- vs. intracellular DNA; genetic fingerprinting) in relation to physico-chemical soil characteristics.

PhD in Microbiology and Virology, with an high specialization in Molecular and Cellular Pathology, Arnolfo Petruzziello was born in Naples, Italy, where actually works as Head of the Laboratory of Virology and Molecular Biology “V. Tridente” at National Cancer Research IRCCS Italia- Fondazione “G. Pascale” in Naples.
Professor of Microbiology, General Pathology and Clinical Microbiology for the University of Naples “Federico II”, he is also Quality Assurance Manager in the JACIE program for the autologous transplantation program of the Department of Haemathology and OECI (Organization of European Cancer Institutes) auditors.
He is author of numerous scientific publications and member of the Editorial Board of several prestigious scientific Journals in Virology and Microbiology.

Virology and Molecular Biology, with particular reference to PCR for the diagnosis of HBV, HCV, HIV infections and EBV, HSV and CMV co-infections in the context of the transplantation program.

Patrick Fickers has completed a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University of Liège (Belgium). After a postdoc at Polytech’Lille (France), he joined in 2005 the Centre of Protein Engineering (Liège, Belgium) as a FNRS fellow. Form 2009 until 2014, he was an Associated Professor at Université libre de Bruxelles and the head of the Biotechnology and Bioprocess Unit. Since 2015, he is a Professor at Gembloux Agro BioTech, University of Liege, in the Microbial Processes and Interactions and Adjunct Professor at Ton Duc Thang University (Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam). He has published more than 40 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and 6 book chapters.

His researches focus on the development of yeast and bacterial strains by metabolic engineering and on process development in bioreactor for the production of compounds of biotechnological interest.

Svetlana Codreanu has completed her BSc and PhD in Microbiology from Moldova State University and joined the Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova in 1993, where she has held various executive and scientific positions. She has authored over 80 scientific publications and 15 patents. She has received numerous awards including the WIPO prise and Gold Medal. She is also a Fellow of Moldovan Society for Microbiology and FEMS Delegate.

Algae and Biomass

Nikos Mavroudis is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Food Science and leads the laboratory of Food Engineering & Separation of Actives (FoESA) in the Dept. of Applied Sciences in Northumbria University at Newcastle. Previously Nikos was a Research Scientist and Project Leader for Unilever R&D for 9 years and has been responsible for developing the separation expertise within Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.
His research interests are focused on Food Security & Food Safety, particularly relevant is his interest on bacterial flow cytometry and surface decontamination. Nikos has published 10 research articles in peer review journals and 12 patents/patent filings and his work has attracted ca 325 citations excluding self-citations.

Food Security & Food Safety, bacterial flow cytometry and surface decontamination.

Dr. Bechan Sharma is presently working as a Professor and Head, Department of Biochemistry Allahabad University, Allahabad. Prof. Sharma’s earlier services include as an Assistant Professor at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural sciences and Technology-J&K, Kashmir and as Associate Professor at Dr. RML Avadh University Faizabad. He has twenty six years of teaching / research experience.
He has carried out several research projects and published over 130 research papers including book chapters, molecular methods in peer reviewed International and National Journals/ Books/Methods of repute with high impact factors. He has authored 4 books published by NOVA Sci. Inc. USA and LampBert Publishers-Germany. He has one US patent on HIV-1 genome structure based antiHIV-1 drugs design to his credit.He is member/life member of several national/international scientific societies and attended number of symposia/conferences in India and abroad and presented his research papers there in.
He is Chief-Editor/Associate Editor/Executive Editor and Member Editorial Board of 85 peer reviewed International and National Journals. He has been acting as honorary reviewer for about 135 International/National scientific journals. Prof. Sharma has recently been awarded with ICMR’s Senior Scientist Fellowship 2014-15 in Biomedical Sciences under Indo-USA joint research programme.

The areas of his research interest include Molecular Biology of HIV/AIDS, Tropical Diseases (Filariasis/Malaria) and Biochemical Toxicology.