Committee

Prof. Maria Eugenia Segretin is a biologist currently serving as a Researcher at INGEBI-CONICET in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her research in centered on molecular interactions between plants and pathogens, with a focus on leveraging this knowledge for the development of disease-resistant crops. In addition to her role as a researcher, she holds the position of Professor at the School of Science, Universidad de Buenos Aires. Maria Eugenia has engaged in various activities aimed at promoting and advocating for Open Science practices.

Dr Alejandro Reyes Muñoz holds a Ph.D. in Computational and Systems Biology, and specializes in viral research with a focus on metagenomic analysis of the human gut virome.  As an Associate Professor at Universidad de los Andes, he leads the research group in Microbial Ecology and Computational Biology. He is involved in research and teaching and is dedicated to advancing viral research, aiming to understand the human virome's complexities and its impact on health. Eager to continue contributing to this dynamic field, he strives to develop innovative approaches to combat viral diseases.

Prof. Rosa Guillén is a biochemist. She holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is a Researcher at the Microbiology Department, Health Sciences Research Institute of National University of Asuncion, Paraguay (IICS, UNA). Her research projects focus on studying antibiotic resistance mechanisms, virulence, and genetic variability of pathogenic bacteria in humans and animals. She holds the position of Professor at the Medicine School and Chemical Science School of the National University of Asuncion, Paraguay. She is committed to the innovation of Applied Health Science in her country.

Dr Mauricio is currently a Postdoctoral researcher in the Kamoun lab at The Sainsbury Laboratory (TSL). He became fascinated with plant biology and biotechnology during his undergraduate degree in the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he joined the Plant Biotechnology lab under Dr. Maria Eugenia Segretín at INGEBI-CONICET. After finishing his degree in Buenos Aires, he moved to Norwich where he did his PhD with Prof. Sophien Kamoun studying plant immunity and plant-microbe interactions. He is currently a PostDoc in the Kamoun lab at TSL , where he is currently studying plant immune receptors and how plant pathogens can interfere with plant immune responses.

Pía is a laboratory manager and researcher in the Agronomy Faculty of the University of Concepción (Chile). Currently working on different projects studying bacterial communities diversity in several environmental/agricultural systems.

Sergio, a researcher at the Centre for Life's Origins and Evolution at the Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment, University College London (UCL), specializes in population genetics, with a focus on understanding the evolutionary relationships between plants and microbial communities. Utilizing genomic data from both contemporary and historical specimens, Sergio investigates how time has influenced the evolutionary history of host-microbe systems.

Daniel is a researcher at the Planta Piloto de Procesos Industriales Microbiológicos (PROIMI-CONICET). His research interests are metagenomics, microbial genomics and mobile genetic elements. His work focuses on the microbial ecology of extremophilic environments, particularly the diversity of hypersaline microbial mats.

Dra. Claudia Etchebehere is the head of the Microbial Ecology Laboratory at the Clemente Estable Biological Research Institute in Montevideo, Uruguay. Her main topic of work is the recovery of energy and valuable products from wastes and waste-waters. Her research is focused on understanding how the microbial communities work to obtain a product. Her lab has strong experience in applied molecular tools such as genomics, metagenomics and metatranscriptomic to understand the complexity of the systems. She promotes the collaboration between researchers from Latin America and the world by participating in different research networks and joint work.

Cecilia is a researcher at the Research Institute of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET), Argentina. Her research is focused on understanding the interplay between bacteria and mobile genetic elements that prompts genome evolution. In addition, she is interested in elucidating the role and mechanisms of defense systems, such as CRISPR-Cas, on host protection and their repurposing as reprogramming tools.  

Leonardo Erijman obtained a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Buenos Aires. He is currently Principal Investigator of INGEBI-CONICET and Associate Professor at the University of Buenos Aires. His main research interest focuses on microbial ecology of environmental biotechnology processes.