Genes Webinar | Human Gut Microbiome
22 Nov 2021, 10:00 (CET)
Microbial Ecology, Microbial Genomics, Hostmicrobe Interactions, Microbiome, Probiotics
Welcome from the Chair
1st Genes Webinar
Human Gut Microbiome
Trillions of microorganisms, mainly bacteria, reside in the human body, especially in the intestine, making up the so-called "human gut microbiome". Omics techniques such as metagenomics, metatranscriptomics and metabolomics and, not least, culturomics, are making great strides in profiling this community and elucidating its role in human health and disease.
It is therefore a great pleasure and honor to welcome two world-leading experts to join us in today’s webinar, who have made outstanding contributions in the field of the human gut microbiome. They will show recent advances in their labs and highlight significant issues for future research.
Date: 22 November 2021
Time: 10:00am CET | 4:00am EST | 5:00pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 889 3066 8764
Webinar Secretariat: genes.webinar@mdpi.com
Chair
Unit of Microbiome Science and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna, Italy
Silvia Turroni is associate professor in Chemistry and Biotechnology of Fermentation, Dept. Pharmacy and Biotechnology, University of Bologna (Bologna, Italy). She graduated specializing in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Bologna in 2004. She obtained a PhD in Applied Biocatalysis and Industrial Microbiology at the University of Bologna in 2008. Her research activity, documented by >130 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and >120 participations in national and international congresses (of which >50 as invited speaker), is mainly focused on the characterization of the compositional and functional structure of the human gut microbiome, and its impact on human health.
Invited Speakers
Host-Microbe Interactions in Metabolic Health Laboratory. Principe Felipe Research Center (CIPF), Valencia, Spain
Dr Benítez-Páez is a biologist and biochemist with a PhD in Molecular Biology. He is expertise in microbial genomics with a special emphasis on bacterial functional genomics and human-associated microbiome research. He has contributed to random and placebo-controlled clinical trials for weight loss using dietary strategies. In addition, he has been deeply involved in the characterization of several candidate strains of the so-called next-generation probiotics. Nowadays, he leads the Host-Microbe Interactions in Metabolic Health laboratory at the Principe Felipe Research Center (CIPF) in Valencia, Spain, developing novel molecular and computational approaches to uncover novel insights into the human gut microbiota. Besides, his main line of investigation is focused on deciphering the host-microbe molecular cross-talk underlying a wide array of metabolic dysfunctions looking for microbiome encoded molecular circuits altering immunity, metabolism and entero-endocrine signalling in the host.
Dr. Itai Sharon is a bioinformatician with a specialization in the metagenomics-based analysis of microbial communities. Current research in his lab includes the characterization of microbial species diversity in the human microbiome, the development of computational methods for analyzing terabase-scale metagenomes from the soil, and the development and application of methods for the strain-level analysis of microbial communities. During his Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Oded Beja and Prof. Ron Pinter at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, he studied marine photosynthetic phages and their interactions with their cyanobacteria hosts. He later completed a postdoctoral period at Prof. Jillian Banfield's lab at UC Berkeley, in which he studied the process of microbial colonization of the infant's gut and helped in characterizing previously unknown lineages in the tree of life.
Webinar Content
On Monday, 22 November 2021, MDPI and the Journal Genes organized the first webinar on Genes, entitled "Human Gut Microbiome".
The introduction was held by the Chair of the webinar, Prof. Dr. Silvia Turroni, an Associate Professor in Chemistry and Biotechnology of Fermentation at the University of Bologna in Italy. Her research activity, documented by >130 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and >120 participations in national and international congresses (of which >50 as invited speaker), is mainly focused on the characterization of the compositional and functional structure of the human gut microbiome, and its impact on human health.
The first speaker to kick off this webinar was Dr. Alfonso Benitez Paez. He is a biologist and biochemist with a PhD in Molecular Biology, and an expert in microbial genomics with a special emphasis on bacterial functional genomics and human-associated microbiome research. He has contributed to random and placebo-controlled clinical trials for weight loss using dietary strategies. In addition, he has been deeply involved in the characterization of several candidate strains of the so-called next-generation probiotics. His presentation was entitled "Host-Diet-Microbiota Interactions Based on Integrative Multiomics Analyses".
Prof. Dr. Itai Sharon from the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute in Qiryat Shemona, Israel was the second speaker and his presentation was entitled "Defining the Prokaryotic Species Landscape in the Human Microbiome". Current research in his lab includes the characterization of microbial species diversity in the human microbiome, the development of computational methods for analyzing terabase-scale metagenomes from the soil, and the development and application of methods for the strain-level analysis of microbial communities.
The last presentation with the title "The Human Gut Microbiome up to Extreme Longevity" was held by the Chair of the webinar, Prof. Dr. Silvia Turroni.
Each presentation was followed by a short Q&A, moderated by the Chair. The webinar was offered via Zoom and required registration to attend. The full recording can be found here on Sciforum website. In order to stay updated on the next webinars on Genes, be sure to sign up for our newsletter by clicking on "Subscribe" at the top of the page.
Program
Speaker/Presentation |
Time in CET |
Prof. Dr. Silvia Turroni Chair Introduction |
10:00 - 10:05 am |
Dr. Alfonso Benitez Paez Host-Diet-Microbiota Interactions Based on Integrative Multiomics Analyses |
10:05 - 10:35 am |
Q&A |
10:35 - 10:40 am |
Prof. Dr. Itai Sharon Defining the Prokaryotic Species Landscape in the Human Microbiome |
10:40 - 11:10 am |
Q&A |
11:10 - 11:15 am |
Prof. Dr. Silvia Turroni The Human Gut Microbiome up to Extreme Longevity |
11:15 - 11:45 am |
Q&A |
11:45 - 11:50 am |
Closing of Webinar |
11:50 - 11:55 am |
Relevant Special Issues
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Silvia Turroni
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 February 2022