Keynote

Dr. Matteo BRILLI

University of Milan, Milan.

Matteo worked on molecular evolution, dynamic modelling of biological systems, network science and their integration. He is curious about many scientific problems; one of his dreams is the integration of systems biology and evolutionary thinking in what he calls Evolutionary Systems Biology an approach he hopes could enable a full understanding of the evolution of many biological systems like the alpha-proteobacterial cell cycle.

Today he is assistant Professor at the University of Milan, mainly working on big data in clinical research from multiple perspectives (pathogen genomics, patient contact network and patient metadata) to monitor and control health associated infections in the framework of the SkyNet Platform (University of Milan, Pediatric Clinical Research Center "Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi").

Dr. David LALAOUNA

University of Strasbourg

Dr. David Lalaouna dedicates his career to study the sRNA-mediated regulation in a wide range of bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas brassicacearum, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus). The importance of these key regulators relies in how they model the aspects of bacterial physiology.

He developed the MS2-affinity purification coupled with RNA sequencing (MAPS) technology to unravel the interactome of specific sRNAs. The use of MAPS led to major breakthrough discoveries, exemplified by the characterization of the first functional tRNA-derived fragment (tRF) in bacteria.

He currently works on RsaC sRNA which balances two interconnected defensive responses (i.e. against oxidative stress and manganese starvation) when S. aureus faces host immune cells.

Dr. Erin GOLEY

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore MD.

Erin is an outstanding young scientist working as part of the Department of Biological Chemistry in the Johns Hopkins University. Her research has been focused on bacterial growth, division, organization, development, signaling, and diversity.

She and her collaborators try to understand two main questions: how bacterial cells grow and divide with regularity and accuracy and how they modulate growth and morphogenesis under changing environmental conditions by using cell biological, biochemical, genetic, and structural approaches.

Dr. FILIPE CABREIRO

Imperial College London

Dr. Filipe Cabreiro is an EMBO young investigator and the research he leads the Cabreiro's Lab is mainly focused in explaining the role of microbial communities in human physiology, and if they can influence nutrition-related syndromes such as obesity and type-2 diabetes, and perhaps ageing, by using a combination of model organisms including C. elegans and rodents.

Dr. Sam ILLINGWORTH

Manchester Metropolitan University

Dr Sam Illingworth is a Senior Lecture in Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, where his research centres around using poetry and games to facilitate dialogue between scientists and non-scientists. You can read more about his research, including a selection of poetry on his website: www.samillingworth.com.