Seth Crosby is the Director of Partnerships and Alliances in the Department of Genetics at Washington University. He works with groups within and outside the University to leverage technology to achieve research and clinical goals. He has been at Washington University for nearly 12 years. During that time, he directed the Department of Genetics Microarray Core, which is now part of GTAC and then GTAC, itself, during its first two years. Prior to that, he was the Director of Translational Research at the Genome Center (now the McDonnell Genome Institute). Prior to his tenure at Washington University, Dr. Crosby worked in the field of genomics and drug discovery at Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, and Pharmacia.
Julius Goepp is the founder and CEO of Scaled Microbiomics, LLC, a pre-clinical stage biotech company focused on passive immunotherapy in the microbiome. Dr. Goepp trained in Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and in Pediatric Infectious Disease at Johns Hopkins, where he was active in the promotion of Oral Rehydration Therapy for childhood diarrheal disease. In 2017, he founded Scaled Microbiomics after recognizing the potential for microbiome modulation through the use of little-known avian antibodies, or IgY. Since that time, his energies have been devoted to exploring the characteristics of those antibodies and developing a drug discovery platform based on their use as selective immunomodulators of complex microbiome signaling pathways and event cascades. In addition to his work, Goepp is passionate about cooking, flying, and exploring the outdoors.
Prof. Dr. Arun K. Bhunia is a Professor of Food Microbiologyat the Department of Food Science and is affiliated with theDepartment of Comparative Pathobiology at the PurdueInstitute of Inflammation, Immunology, and InfectiousDisease (PI4D), and the Purdue University Life Scienceprogram (PULSe). He is Chair of the Interdepartmental FoodScience Graduate Program. His expertise covers microbialpathogenesis (host–pathogen interaction), probioticbioengineering, and foodborne pathogen detection. To date,he has co-authored more than 190 peer-reviewed researchpublications, two textbooks (Fundamental Food Microbiologyand Foodborne Microbial Pathogens—Mechanisms andPathogenesis), he has edited four books, and delivered over148 lectures. He teaches graduate-level courses on foodbornepathogens and the mechanisms of pathogenesis, microbialfoodborne pathogen detection techniques, and intestinalmicrobiology and immunology. He served on the USDANational Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria forFoods (NACMCF; 2013–2017) and has received the PurdueAgriculture Research Award (2003), Purdue Faculty Scholar(2005), Purdue Team Award (2006), IFT R&D Award (2009),Outstanding Graduate Educator Award at Purdue (2013),High-End Foreign Experts Recruitment Program (China)fellowship (2014–2016), Fulbright Specialist (2016–2021), andMaurice Weber Laboratorian Award from IAFP (2017).
Peter Leighton is the CEO of ProSperity Bioscience, engaged in the development and marketing of functionally targeted probiotic consumer products. Leighton is also the founder of Abunda, an integrated consulting practice. His 30+ years of executive experience at the intersection of consumer products and life science technology has leveraged emerging scientific research & discovery into engaging consumer brands. He has identified and executed novel marketing & commercialization strategies leading to the successful development and launch of hundreds of new products. Leighton has been a guiding light to entrepreneurial enterprises and companies facing a challenge. In the early 2000’s he orchestrated a 300% increase in stock valuation and sales growth at Natrol (NTOL). Leighton has held senior executive positions including VP Product Strategy at Complete Nutrition, CEO at Advana Science, VP Marketing & Product Development at Natrol (NTOL), Vice President at Galileo Laboratories, VP Marketing at Metabolife, SVP Marketing at Weider Nutrition (WNI) and Director of Marketing at InterHealth Nutraceuticals.
Maya Ivanjesku M.S. is a creative visionary, CSO and a formulation scientist at Dakota Biotech -The Live Probiotic Skincare company. With over 25 years of experience in developing products for the beauty industry, Maya is a formulation expert. Her career path started at Estee Lauder Companies where she was formulating products for Estee Lauder, Clinique, Origins, Bobby Brown, Aveda, LaMer etc. With her passion for science and nature, Maya also ventured into Biotech, OTC and topical Rx and Medical Device formulation and developed topical prescription formulas for numerous pharmaceutical companies. The diversity of her career path in formulating products, overseeing manufacturing, R&D and holding executive positions in numerous industries from cosmetic to pharmaceutical and biotech product launches, has lead Maya into an entrepreneurial opportunity at Dakota Biotech where LaFloreÒ Probiotic Skincare product line was born. Maya’s passion for wellness, education and helping people heal – naturally, is the main driver in developing performance focused products.
Seth Crosby is the Director of Partnerships and Alliances in the Department of Genetics at Washington University. He works with groups within and outside the University to leverage technology to achieve research and clinical goals. He has been at Washington University for nearly 12 years. During that time, he directed the Department of Genetics Microarray Core, which is now part of GTAC and then GTAC, itself, during its first two years. Prior to that, he was the Director of Translational Research at the Genome Center (now the McDonnell Genome Institute). Prior to his tenure at Washington University, Dr. Crosby worked in the field of genomics and drug discovery at Abbott Laboratories, Pfizer, and Pharmacia.
Juliana Durack is the VP of Research and Product Development at Symbiome, a San Francisco- based microbiome R&D company and the manufacturer of Symbiome™ Skincare products. She has a PhD in Food Microbiology and a BS (Honors in Clinical Microbiology) in Biomedical Science from the University of Tasmania. Julia has clinical experience in diagnostics, having worked as a registered Medical Microbiologist at the Royal Hobart Hospital in Australia. She has had extensive research training at UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco School of Medicine and has a track record of scientific impact in classical microbiology and the human microbiome.
Craig is a founding member of the HGF IP Microbiome Team, one of the largest IP teams of its type in Europe. He has considerable experience in providing pragmatic, commercially focused advice to a wide-range of clients and in relation to biotechnological and pharmaceutical inventions. As well as patent drafting and prosecution, Craig advises on the development of company-wide IP strategies, preparing for or carrying out funding/acquisition due diligence, and advising on aggressive/defensive strategies in relation to third party IP. Craig regularly defends and attacks patents in European patent opposition proceedings. After having worked on matters in the field for more than 15 years, a particular focus of Craig’s practice relates to microbiome.
Prof. Dr. Arun K. Bhunia is a Professor of Food Microbiologyat the Department of Food Science and is affiliated with theDepartment of Comparative Pathobiology at the PurdueInstitute of Inflammation, Immunology, and InfectiousDisease (PI4D), and the Purdue University Life Scienceprogram (PULSe). He is Chair of the Interdepartmental FoodScience Graduate Program. His expertise covers microbialpathogenesis (host–pathogen interaction), probioticbioengineering, and foodborne pathogen detection. To date,he has co-authored more than 190 peer-reviewed researchpublications, two textbooks (Fundamental Food Microbiologyand Foodborne Microbial Pathogens—Mechanisms andPathogenesis), he has edited four books, and delivered over148 lectures. He teaches graduate-level courses on foodbornepathogens and the mechanisms of pathogenesis, microbialfoodborne pathogen detection techniques, and intestinalmicrobiology and immunology. He served on the USDANational Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria forFoods (NACMCF; 2013–2017) and has received the PurdueAgriculture Research Award (2003), Purdue Faculty Scholar(2005), Purdue Team Award (2006), IFT R&D Award (2009),Outstanding Graduate Educator Award at Purdue (2013),High-End Foreign Experts Recruitment Program (China)fellowship (2014–2016), Fulbright Specialist (2016–2021), andMaurice Weber Laboratorian Award from IAFP (2017).
Ph.D. founded Primal Health, LLC in 2017 to focus on improving the dental health of both humans and animals by producing oral microbiome modulation products. She has spent 12 years developing SMMRT technology at Primal Therapies, Inc., which is focused on using metabolic influencers to re-engineer disease-causing bacterial biofilms into those that are health-promoting, to decrease inflammation and to improve outcomes. Prior to that, she spent 7 years as a research fellow at Stanford University in Rheumatology and Immunology focused on the neuro-endocrine-immune axis in autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. She holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California at Berkeley where she studied inter- and intra-cellular signaling pathways involved in stress response and community development in bacteria and received her B.S. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa where she studied the interaction between M. tuberculosis and innate immune cells.
Yug Varma, PhD, is the cofounder and CEO of Phi Therapeutics, a venture-backed microbiome company focused on skin disorders based in San Francisco. He has an extensive background in bio-organic chemistry, microbiology, synthetic biology, and microbiome research. Yug received
his scientific training at several distinguished academic institutions, including Johns Hopkins University (PhD) and University of California, San Francisco
Officer of Recondite Consulting, which works with thepharmaceutical industry to improve clinical outcomes byidentifying dietary and lifestyle factors affecting efficacyand safety. She is a board member of the NorthernIreland-based Covimro Ltd, an orthomolecular healthcare company, as well as the biotech company ScaledMicrobiomics in Maryland and the nonprofit AccessIntegrative Medicine Health Institute in Washington, D.C.She is the co-host of the GW Integrative Medicine Podcast.In 2021, the International Forum on Advancements inHealthcare named her among the Top 100 Health CareLeaders.Dr. Frame is building a GW Integrative Medicine researchprogram while directing the graduate educationprograms and the Office of Integrative Medicine andHealth. She is also the co-founder and Associate Directorof the GW Resiliency & Well-being Center. Her interestsinclude the role of the microbiome and nutrition in health,the consequences of malnutrition in obesity, vitamin D asan immune-modulatory hormone, research ethics, andsocial media..
Scott Jackson joined The National Institute of Standardsand Technology (NIST) in May 2014. At NIST, Scott is currentlythe leader of the Complex Microbial Systems Group in theBiosystems and Biomaterials Division. In this current role,Scott is leading international efforts to improve microbiomeand metagenomic measurements by organizing interlabstudies, developing reference materials and referencemethods, and developing in vitro tools that allow us to betterunderstanding and microbial community resilience andevolution.
Prior to joining NIST in 2014, Scott spent 11 years as a principalinvestigator with the FDA. At FDA, his research focusedon characterizing the global genomic diversity of entericpathogens, with applications for food safety, bio forensicsand public health.
Julius Goepp is the founder and CEO of Scaled Microbiomics, LLC, a pre-clinical stage biotech company focused on passive immunotherapy in the microbiome. Dr. Goepp trained in Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and in Pediatric Infectious Disease at Johns Hopkins, where he was active in the promotion of Oral Rehydration Therapy for childhood diarrheal disease. In 2017, he founded Scaled Microbiomics after recognizing the potential for microbiome modulation through the use of little-known avian antibodies, or IgY. Since that time, his energies have been devoted to exploring the characteristics of those antibodies and developing a drug discovery platform based on their use as selective immunomodulators of complex microbiome signaling pathways and event cascades. In addition to his work, Goepp is passionate about cooking, flying, and exploring the outdoors.
Andrea is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor of Nutrition at UNC Chapel Hill. She is also the founding and current director of the UNC Microbiome Core, which has provided support to investigators interested in addressing the role of the hostassociated microbiota in health and disease for over 14 years, contributing to over 150 publications and as many grant proposals. Her research projects have focused on functional genomics of probiotics and gut microbiome modulation by prebiotics for over 20 years, resulting in over 100 peer-reviewed publications. She specifically aims to develop prebiotic and probiotic interventions as alternatives to traditional treatments for microbiotahealth related conditions, and to advance microbiotabased health surveillance methods.
Dana has been using flow cytometry as a tool in cancer research and autoimmune disease for over 30 years. She develops and runs cell-based assays as a CRO to give companies access to high complexity flow cytometry. Dana also teaches flow cytometry to scientists around the world. For the past 8 years, she has been developing flow cytometry-based microbial assays as an improved alternative to CFUs. These assays include enumeration and health evaluation of probiotics at many different stages of development.
Dr Mitra is a University Academic Fellowwith expertise in in metagenomics, bioinformatics andbiostatistics. She has 30 publications and 4501 citationsand has secured over £2.9M in total as Co-I from charity,government, and industrial funding sources in last 4 years.Several of her publications in bioinformatics pipeline andmethod development have >100 citations. She has 15+ yearsof experience in leading bioinformatics team, methodsdevelopment, handling next generation sequencing dataand applying statistical methods to the analyses. Currentlyshe is Bioinformatics Lead in a major colorectal cancercohort study (COLO-COHORT) that aims to develop a “riskstratification tool” to help identify which patients are athighest risk of having adenomas or bowel cancer. Thisstudy aims to explore the significance of the gut bacteriacomposition in patients with adenomas or cancer tohelp inform this risk model using metagenomics shotgunsequencing.
Katrine is a biochemist interested in human associated microbial and viral communities. She uses metagenomics, metabolomics, microbial genetics and ecological statistics to answer questions about how microbes and viruses affect human health. She aims to understand how individual and persistent human-associated microbial and viral communities affect health. Specifically, she works to understand the role of persistent microbial colonization in triggering inflammatory episodes in Cystic Fibrosis patients. Understanding microbial interactions and changes in microbial physiology that are associated with changes in patient status may lead to the development of biomarkers to diagnose changes in infection earlier and more specifically. She is also interested in how phage shape dynamic hostassociated microbial communities, and in characterizing the function of the 70% of phage encoded genes with no known function.
Ravichandra Vemuri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is one of the initiating members of the Center for Microbial Ecology and Emerging Diseases at Wake Forest University. Ravi completed his PhD at the University of Tasmania, Australia. His research interests lie in the microbiome and understanding its role in aging, diet, probiotic supplementation, hypertension and obesity. He has collaborated actively with researchers in several other disciplines, particularly to understand the host-microbe interactions. Ravi published 42 journal articles and serves as an editor and reviewer in several high-quality journals.
Prof. Dr. Robert H. Schiestl, Prof. emeritus of Pathology, Radiation Oncology, and Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA. 15 patents, 5 procedures and products. The company RadMit, Inc. produces a chemical which addresses at least 100 different diseases. The company Protecta-skincare, Inc. makes all people beautiful and cures all skin diseases. The company MicroBioPharma, Inc. prevents and treats Inflammation caused diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity. With the products and procedures, I can heal at about 90% of all diseases of people and benefit 100% of all healthy people. Outstanding Leadership Award in Healthcare 2022. There are 14,000 pages online about me.
Dr. Robert Hettich is a distinguished research scientist & leader of the Bioanalytical Mass Spectrometry Group of the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a joint faculty member in the Microbiology Department at the University of Tennessee. He has over 34 years of experience in biological mass spectrometry. His research interests involve the development and demonstration of advanced mass spectrometry technology for characterizing complex biological mixtures, such as microbial proteomes, and for examining higher order protein structures. He has authored more than 270 publications, and is active in mentoring graduate students, as well as teaching analytical technology and advanced biological mass spectrometry classes. He is an associate editor for Microbiome, a member of the editorial advisory boards of Mass Spectrometry Reviews, BMC Genomics, and Journal of Integrated Omics, and is an active review member on several NIH review study sections, in particular for NIH-GM and NIH-NCI-IMAT.
Jan Struckmann Poulsen is a PhD fellow at Aalborg University. He has an engineering background in biotechnology. His research focuses on identifying and understanding key degraders of recalcitrant substrates. Identification of the organisms and their genetic repertoire provide valuable information to solve different environmental challenges (plastics, pollutants, phytochemical polymers, etc.). Information of the (novel) enzymes involved in the degradation pathways has be obtained using combinations of molecular techniques including stable isotopes, (meta)proteomics, (meta) genomics, Illumina sequencing, and long-read Nanopore sequencing.
Dr. Ace Hatch is an experienced biomarker scientist with a background in developing non-invasive biomarkers for diagnosing disease, selecting therapies, and monitoring therapeutic response. He has worked extensively in circulating blood-based biomarkers with a particular emphasis on oncology applications. At Owlstone Medical he helps investigators apply Breath Biopsy® technology in their trials to identify volatile breath biomarkers in multiple disease settings.
