Bio
Pilar García PhD is a Staff Research Scientist of the CSIC (Higher Council for Scientific Research National Agency, Spain). Her research has predominantly been focused on the exploitation of bacteriophages as genetic tools to be applied in the food industry. In this field, she studies bacteriophages and endolysins as antimicrobial agents for the biopreservation of dairy products. The removal of biofilms by these antimicrobials is one of the main interests of her current research. She has participated in 42 regional, national and international research projects, acting as the principal investigator in 17 of them. In addition, she was involved in 11 research contracts with national and international companies. She has directed 7 doctoral theses and 4 more are ongoing. Her research results have been published in 111 SCI articles, 25 non-SCI articles and 14 book chapters.

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Phage Compounds Inhibit Intestinal Clostridium perfringens and Improve Immunometabolism of Microbiota

Bio
Dr. Zhang is responsible for a number of funded projects involving antimicrobial resistance and agro-food safety. Her research interests pertain to pathogen resistance and biological control technology in the production and consumption of livestock and poultry products. To date, her work has involved the use of phage and phage endolysins, antimicrobial peptides, lysozyme as a preservative in food processing (e.g., chicken, pork, aquatic products), animal ecological breeding and the development of antibiotic alternatives. This includes the study of bacteriophages in symbiotic microbial ecosystems using both culture-based and culture-independent (metagenomic) approaches, the characterization of novel phage isolates, an analysis of the mechanisms of the host cell recognition by bacterio-phages, and a structural and functional analysis of bacteriophage adsorption apparatus.

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Reporter Mycobacteriophages for Detection of M. tuberculosis in Clinical Samples and Rapid Determination of Antibiotic Susceptibility

Bio
Mariana Piuri obtained her degree in Biological Sciences from the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences (FCEN) at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) in 1998. She completed her PhD in the Department of Biological Chemistry under the supervision of Carmen Sanchez Rivas and Sandra Ruzal, working on the characterization of the osmotic stress response in Lactobacillus casei and the role of the proteolytic system (2003). From 2004 to 2009, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow and Postdoc-toral Research Associate in Graham Hatfull's lab at the Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute, the University of Pittsburgh, USA. During this time, she gained experience working with bacteriophages, particularly mycobacteriophages. Since 2010, upon returning to Argentina, she has established an independent and innovative re-search line in a relatively unexplored area, with direct technological applications, particularly focused on the study and applications of phages that infect Mycobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. In the former case, she has concentrated on developing tools based on mycobacteriophages for tuberculosis diagnosis and the search for new anti-tubercular drugs. In recent years, she has also focused on characterizing the host recognition machinery in phages that infect Lactobacillus spp. Her research has been published in prestigious international microbiology journals, and she has served as an invited speaker at numerous international conferences, particularly in the fields of bacteriophages, tuberculosis, and lactic acid bacteria. She is the coordinator of the Bacteriophage Course at her institution, encouraging the training of human resources in this discipline in Latin America. She is currently an Independent Researcher at CONICET and an Associate Professor in Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology in the Department of Biological Chemistry, FCEN, UBA, where she is a Group Leader of the Bacteriophage and Biotechnological Applications Laboratory.

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Phage Therapy: A Solution to Antibiotic Resistance in Africa

Bio
Dr. Ayman El-Shibiny is currently working as a Professor of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Center for Microbiology and Phage Therapy (CMP). El-Shibiny obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Microbiology from the University of Nottingham, the UK, in 2006. Prior to joining Zewail City, El-Shibiny worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at a number of universities, including the University of Nottingham (UK), Cardiff University (UK), and the Evergreen State College (USA). As a Microbiologist, El-Shibiny’s research interests cover a broad range of topics related to food safety and human health. Professor El-Shibiny champions an innovative approach to harnessing the power of bacteriophages. His research explores their potential to combat a wide range of human infections, from those affecting wounds and the gut to foodborne illnesses. El-Shibiny's center focuses on developing the tools needed for successful phage therapy. This includes phage isolation, amplification, and typing techniques to identify the most effective phages for specific targets. Additionally, they leverage cutting-edge molecular techniques to produce potent phage-based products for controlling bacterial contamination.