Bio
Dr. Marc Maresca is currently a researcher at the Aix-Marseille Université. He received his P.h.D in Biochemistry at the Université Paul Cézanne (France, 2003) on food contaminants named mycotoxins. In 2003, he moved to England to work on enteropathogenic E coli in Brendan Keny’s lab. Then, he moved back to France to continue his work on mycotoxins and their effects on human health. He is currently working at the Aix-Marseille Université, and his research, in addition to work on mycotoxins, aims to identify and develop new molecules—natural, synthetic, or bio-inspired ones—with antimicrobial properties. He focuses on antimicrobial peptides and their mimics, as well as on plant derivatives, in addition to their antimicrobial effects, as they may have anti-inflammatory and anti-tumorigenic effects.

Bio
Sylvie Rebuffat studied chemistry and biochemistry at the University Pierre and Marie Curie-Paris 6 (currently Sorbonne University) in Paris. She obtained a Professor position at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris in 1997. In 2007, she founded the Laboratory Molecules of Communication and Adaptation of Microorganisms (MCAM) at the MNHN, that she directed over ten years. She set up in 2011 the Direction of Research, Expertise and Technology transfer of the MNHN that she directed until 2016. She is associate Professor at the University Laval (Québec, Canada) since 2017 and Professor emeritus of the MNHN in the MCAM laboratory since 2020. Over years Sylvie Rebuffat studied the structures and mechanisms of action of several groups of toxic or antimicrobial compounds from fungi and bacteria, such as mycotoxins from Penicillium, antifungal peptides of the peptaibol group from Trichoderma fungi and microcins from Enterobacteria. She contributed to studies on metabolites from gliding bacteria at the Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung in Braunschweig (Germany). Since 2000 she is studying with her group at MCAM the molecular aspects of the competition mechanisms developed by bacteria, and more specifically the antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that bacteria use as weapons (microcins and other bacteriocins) in various ecosystems, such as the gut microbiota. Studies concern the structural aspects and mechanisms of action of these AMPs and the enzymatic systems responsible for their biosynthesis and posttranslational modifications. Their ecological roles and their applications in human or veterinary medicine are currently considered. S. Rebuffat is the author of over 170 publications recorded in the Web of Science and published in international journals or book chapters.

Bio
Octávio Luiz Franco holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the Federal University of Ceará (1998) and a PhD in Biological Sciences (Molecular Biology) from the University of Brasília (2001). He conducted his initial post-doctoral research in 2001 at Embrapa, followed by another at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has undertaken work missions in numerous countries, including Australia, Israel, Portugal, Cuba, and the Netherlands. Dr. Franco completed his first sabbatical at the University of Wisconsin (USA) and the second at the University of British Columbia (Canada), focusing on infectious disease control. Currently, he serves as a professor at Universidade Catolica de Brasilia and University Catolica Dom Bosco. Additionally, he coordinates the National Institute of Science and Technology Bioinspir for bioinspired products. Dr. Franco holds the position of Researcher 1A and serves as a consultant to the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Furthermore, he is a member of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SBBq), The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), ASM (American Society of Microbiology), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). His research is concentrated on developing bioproducts and bioprocesses, with a particular emphasis on controlling pathogenic microorganisms. Dr. Franco has authored nearly 500 papers, advised hundreds of students, and held dozens of patents for products that have entered the cosmetic and animal health markets.