Julian G. Hurdle, PhD, is Professor of Microbiology, Director of the Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases at the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and Interim Head of the Department of Translational Medical Sciences at the Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine. His translational research focuses on antibiotic resistance, microbial pathogenesis, and drug discovery for anaerobic pathogens, with an emphasis on Clostridioides difficile, a leading cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. His laboratory defines how evolving antibiotic resistance mechanisms affect pathogenesis and patient treatment outcomes and translates these discoveries into microbiome-sparing therapeutic strategies.

Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, DVM, MSc, PhD, HDR, is a Principal Investigator and Head of the microbioTick Laboratory at UMR BIPAR (INRAE, ANSES, École Nationale Vétérinaire d’Alfort), France. His research focuses on vector-associated microbiomes, host–microbiota–pathogen interactions, vector competence, pathogen transmission, and the development of microbiome-based strategies for disease control. He and his team have pioneered the concept and application of anti-microbiota vaccines and have contributed extensively to understanding the ecological and functional roles of microbial communities associated with ticks and other arthropod vectors. He has authored more than 280 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has an h-index of 50.