Jeroen Raes

Pierre Déchelotte

Nicole de Wit

Denise Kelly

Professor Denise Kelly joined Seventure Partners, a European Leader in Venture Capital, in 2015 as an Investment Advisor to the Life Sciences Team and is focused specifically, on Human Microbiome investment opportunities, globally. Prior to joining Seventure, Denise was Head of her Research Lab at the World-renowned Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, where she acquired over 20 years experience in gut microbiology and immunology. She was the (former) Founder Director, CEO and CSO of GT Biologics Ltd, one of the first translational spinouts, developing Innovative Microbiome-based Therapies. She is the main inventor on numerous EU and USA patent applications and during her career has collaborated with pharmaceutical and healthcare companies on several translational projects.Denise holds a BSc and PhD from Queens University, Belfast and an Emeritus Professorship from the University of Aberdeen.

Vanesa Rocha Martin

Jason Harcup

Jason is Unilever’s Chief R&D Officer for Beauty & Wellbeing plus Head of the Prestige Division, leading end-to-end R&D delivery from innovation to market across several billion Euros of turnover, dozens of brands and nearly 100 countries. He leads hundreds of scientists in laboratories across 16 time zones. In his two decades with Unilever, half of which living in the US and China, he has launched several hundred million Euros worth of innovation, brought a dozen new luxury high growth Skin Care companies into the Unilever portfolio, and developed more than 50 Directors.
He has been on the Faculty of Health and Beauty America, a Beauty Disruptor with the CEW network and a co-convenor of the Unilever Asian Dermatological Forum. He is a Fellow of both The Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Prior to Unilever, Jason graduated from Cambridge University, and worked as a scientist for the UK Ministry of Defence and has been an adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is author of various publications, holds several patents and has delivered numerous invited talks as an industry leader.

Hok Bing Thio

Cecile Clavaud

Rochellys Diaz Heijtz

Marcus Claesson

Benjamin Hadida

Benjamin co-founded Exeliom Biosciences in December 2016, and has been the CEO of the company since. Exeliom Biosciences is specialized in the development of novel therapeutic approaches against immune-mediated diseases, that are more suited to chronic administration than current medicines. Exelioms lead program, EXL01, has obtained approval to enter the clinic for the maintenance of remission in Crohns Disease. Benjamin is an entrepreneur who developed a wide range of skills in various industries such as investment banking (UBS), venture capital (Pacific Channel), pharmaceutical regulatory affairs (Amgen), biotech operations (Theravectys) and applied research (Vision Institute in Paris). Benjamin has a masters degree in management from ESSEC Business School (after Classes Prpa) and a masters degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from Sorbonne University.

Jan-Peter van Pijkeren

Guenolee Prioult

Colette Shortt

Colette (PhD, MBA) is an independent regulatory specialist and a registered public health nutritionist with over 30 years industry experience gained in European and Global scientific and regulatory leadership roles (SmithKline Beecham, Yakult, McNeil Nutritional and Johnson & Johnson). At J&J, she successfully coordinated one of the first disease risk reduction health claims in EU. She is active in scientific advisory boards focussed on innovation and health (NICHE, NNedPro Strategic Advisory Committee, and the KTN Microbiome Network). As Global Regulatory Affairs Director for Emerging Science & Open Innovation, working with both J&J Consumer Health, and World Without Disease Accelerator Janssen, Colette conducted due diligence on microbiome start-up propositions and early OTC pipeline projects, including medicines, cosmetics, nutritionals, and medical devices. Colette is a member of the European Council of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS) and leads the Ireland RAPS Local Network Group. She is also a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Medicine and the Association for Nutrition. She is Joint Editor-in-Chief of the new CABI Food Science and Nutrition Cases Journal launched in 2024.

Katia Merten-Lenz

Katia Merten-Lentz, partner resident and founder/manager of the law firm “Food Law Science & Partners”, has been for more than 25 years, a leading practitioner in European food and feed law (one of only four Chambers and Partners first-tier ranked attorneys in the category of Regulatory:
Agro/Food—Europe-Wide, and she is also recognized by The Legal 500 in both Belgium and France as a Leading Individual in the category of EU Regulatory Food). Her practice also extends to Biotechnologies, Environmental Law and Cosmetics Law.She is one of the few lawyers assisting clients from A to Z in the food and feed area obtaining European authorization for new additives, enzymes, novel foods and accompanying them with issues ranging from marketing (labeling and claims) to innovation (nanomaterials, genetically modified organisms, new breeding techniques), thanks to her scientific internal support.
Ms. Merten-Lentz is a former member to the Council of the Order of the Paris Bar. She has degrees in EU competition law and corporate/business law and speaks fluent French and English.

Oliver Worsley

Oliver is the co-founder and CEO of Sequential. A pioneer in the microbiome testing world, having initially launched the world’s first at-home skin microbiome test in 2019, and with over 4 years of R&D into the human microbiome have developed out their B2B testing platform. They are backed by the global leaders such as Innovate UK, Enterprise SG, A*STAR, Genome Institute of Singapore, SOSV, Metaplanet, Scrum Ventures, Corundum Systems Biology, and operate three independent labs in London, Singapore and NYC.

Oliver completed his PhD in molecular genetics as a scholar at the Genome Institute of Singapore from 2014-2018, and has won multiple awards including the P&G Young Entrepreneurship Scheme, presented at the Royal Society in London in 2017; and the top prize at the L’Oréal Innovation Runway 2018. Oliver has previously founded Anya Consulting, a healthcare communications company that has published >150 articles and has produced several technical whitepapers for clients like Fierce Health. Prior, Oliver completed his BSc at Edinburgh University, including six months at Leiden University Medical Centre through the Erasmus Programme.

Johanna Gillbro

Eric Chun-Ming Huang

Professor Eric Huang’s research with 128 peer-reviewed research articles has been focused on therapeutic microbiome where microbes are used for development of vaccines, probiotics and other therapeutics.

David Suissa

Dylan West

Elisa Chiquet

Elisa Chiquet Iraizos is a business-oriented scientist with a degree in biology and nutrition, as well as an MBA. She has extensive experience working for multinational companies in the retail, food, and ingredient manufacturing industries, including Carrefour, Unilever, Danone, and IFF. Elisa has held various commercial roles throughout her career, focusing on pricing, business development, and procurement. Currently, she is the Chief Operating Officer at Hellobiome, where she leads the microbiome revolution for the skin. Elisa’s passion for the microbiome stems from her time at Danone, where she witnessed the impact of the gut microbiome on their top-selling products. Elisa is thrilled to be part of the Hellobiome team and is committed to developing innovative commercial strategies that will drive the success of Hellobiome.

Robert Brucker

Claudia Vanesa Piattoni

Tiina Orasmäe-Meder

Dr. Tiina Orasmäe-Meder embarked on her career in cosmetic dermatology and aesthetic medicine in 1995, specializing in topical solutions for aesthetic concerns. As a medical expert in cosmetovigilance (cosmetic safety), she contributed to Sociris Lab’s (France) research initiatives. With a focus on safety and efficacy, she led International Professional Training for Cellap Lab (Switzerland) and served as a medical consultant for Thalgo Lab’s (France) Research & Development projects until 2009. In 2009, Dr. Orasmäe-Meder established her own company, offering cutting-edge microbiome-friendly professional skincare used in over 30 countries. Today, she heads UK-based Meder Beauty International Ltd and lends her medical expertise to R&D at Cosmotec Lab (Switzerland).

Ralph Slijkerman

Sarah Lebeer

Audrey Guéniche

Audrey GUENICHE is a Doctor in Pharmacy and has a PhD in skin biology. She has a distinguished career of over three decades at L’Oréal in Research and Innovation. Her scientific contributions have been in the areas of topical and food supplements of skin, scalp, hair health and beauty.  Audrey’s experience is extensive: from vitro to clinical trials, to open innovation and development. She has published over 140 papers in peer-reviewed journals, presented in 87 international congresses and, additionally, has been recognized and guest speaker in 52 plenary conferences.

By embracing an innovative mindset, Audrey is passionate in finding new areas to promote actives and formulas, prove new claims and scientific communications, and reinvent evaluations. As HELENA RUBINSTEIN’s Scientific Director, Audrey pursues the brand’s long-standing avant-garde research and science.

Stephan Bielfeldt

Alexandra Zhernakova

Olaf Larsen

Olaf Larsen studied chemistry at the VU University Amsterdam and obtained a PhD in physics there as well. Following postdoctoral research in New York City and Amsterdam, he continued his career within industry. Olaf worked for ASML, TNO and as a consultant life sciences within various organizations. Since 2012 he is heading the Science department at Yakult Nederland B.V., and member of the Management Team. Since 2016, he is also part time Asst. Professor. at the VU University focusing on One Health in relation to microbiota management, using various research techniques like computational modeling.

Jonathan Lane

Dr. Jonathan Lane is currently a Senior Manager and Head of the Global Research Program with the Health & Happiness Group, a global leader in premium nutrition and wellness for all life stages. Prior to joining H&H, Jonathan was the Infant Nutrition Program Manager for Food for Health Ireland which united world-class science and industry experience to improve health through innovation of food. Jonathan also served as a Research Officer at the Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, where he isolated and structurally and functionally characterised food source bioactives. He completed his PhD in Glycobiology at Teagasc through University College Dublin and has a BSc in Microbiology from University College Cork.

Johanna Maukonen

Johanna focuses on developing scientifically sound translation of customer and market needs to R&D strategy and projects, being a key link for Health R&D to customers and external scientific communities. At 2017-2022 she led Global Health and Nutrition Science group, which has over 40 scientists and technicians, and conducts and coordinates in vitro, pre-clinical and clinical studies on IFFs ingredients, mainly in relation to probiotic research. Before joining IFF, Johanna spent over 20y at VTT Technical Research Centre, the Nordics leading research and technology company. She has extensive R&D experience in understanding the gut microbiota and its impact on health, especially on the influence of probiotics, nutrition and fibers. She has DSc(Tech) on characterization of predominant human fecal microbiota.

Celine Druart

Céline Druart obtained her PhD degree in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences from UCLouvain (Belgium) in 2014. She then joined the research group of Patrice Cani to lead a 3-year project devoted to the development and exploitation of the promising results regarding the beneficial effects of Akkermansia muciniphila, a commensal gut bacterium. Taking advantage of her Master’s in Management, she worked for 3 years as Scientific and Business Project Manager at A-Mansia Biotech, an innovative microbiome company developing health products based on the unique properties of A. muciniphila. In July 2021, she joined the Pharmabiotic Research Institute (PRI) as Microbiome Project Manager. She is in charge of the Regulatory Science activities of the organization; coordinating Task Group work, focusing on the emergence of new scientific and technological standards, and supporting PRI Regulatory Members in their development efforts.

Laurie Rey

After an engineering degree in biochemistry and a PhD in molecular biology, Laurie did her post-doctoral research in Cambridge, UK, amassing more than five years’ experience in R&D. She went on to join a consulting company to help life sciences corporations and start-ups position new products on the market. She then took up a position as business & partnerships director at TWB, a public/private consortium that works with industrial biotechs to develop sustainable production pathways. She was responsible for TWB’s current and future turnover, in addition to building an evolutive offer in response to customer needs. With her solid foundation in R&D, marketing, project management and business development, she joined Lallemand Health Solutions to develop and manage EXPERT’Biome, CDMO by Lallemand, to support next-generation strain development (probiotics and live biotherapeutics) at R&D, Production and Regulatory level.

Ina Schuppe Koistinen

Ina Schuppe Koistinen, PhD, Associate Professor, holds the position as Alliance Director at the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR). Ina has an education in biochemistry, toxicology and a PhD in Medicine from Karolinska Institutet. She has pursued a career in pharma industry and academia in both pre-clinical and clinical Drug R&D in translational medicine research in CNS, respiratory, autoimmunity, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases focusing on biomarker discovery based on omics technologies, systems-based data integration and clinical biomarker qualification. Her current research interest is in understanding the role of the microbiome to health with a focus on female reproduction.

Jiazhi (George) Zhou

Valeria Felice

Dr. Valeria Felice is currently working as Research Project Manager within the Health & Happiness Group focusing on preclinical research in premium nutrition and wellness for all life stages. Prior to this experience she was a member of the Marigot Ltd. R&D team having completed a competitively obtained Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Scheme (IRC-EPS) postdoctoral fellowship at University College Cork (UCC) in 2018. She completed her doctoral studies with Dr. Siobhain O’Mahony and Prof. John Cryan in the Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience (UCC) in 2014 as an Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) scholar and earned a BSc in Experimental Biology and MSc in Neuropsychobiology at the University of Cagliari (Italy).

Janin Edelkamp

Jacob Bak Holm

Rafik Fellague-Chebra

I am Dr. Rafik Fellague-Chebra, a dedicated MD, biostatistician, and methodologist of clinical research, with a journey of over two decades in oncology. My experience encompasses various roles in clinical practice, academic research, and pharmaceutical industry. My mission, humbly undertaken, is centered on fighting cancer to improve the lives of patients, aiming for a better and longer life. Outside my professional endeavors, i the heart of Paris, I navigate life as a father of two incredible kids. I find joy in the simplicity of a healthy lifestyle, cultivating my love for sports and cooking nutritious cuisine. It’s a privilege to contribute to the ongoing battle against cancer and work alongside brilliant minds towards meaningful progress in the field.

Jelena Helene Cvejic

John O'brien

Romain Daillère

Romain Daillère completed his PhD in 2015 in the laboratory of Professor Laurence Zitvogel at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus (GRCC), Villejuif-Grand Paris/France. Co-founder of EverImmune, a clinical stage biotech company developing live biotherapeutic products as oral adjuvants to anticancer immunotherapy. Previous scientific director of EverImmune. Currently director of the microbiome program at Bioaster, a French IRT (Technological Research Insititute) created at the initiative of the French Government and private life science companies dedicated to the study of microbiology and infectious disease.

Adrien Nivoliez

Dr. Adrien NIVOLIEZ (PhD) serves as the Chief Executive Officer of biose® industrie, a leading Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization specializing in GMP pharmaceuticals for Live Biotherapeutic Products.

Driven by a passion for microbiome and microbiota sciences, biose® industrie offers a wide range of services, including:
• Product development encompassing fermentation, drying processes, and customized drug product solutions (such as capsules and tablets).
• Analytical development to meet international requirements (USP, PE, ICH, etc.).
• GMP Scale-up Platform for clinical batch production.
• GMP Industrial Platform for large-scale manufacturing, capable of handling volumes up to 5,000 liters.
• Expertise in global quality and regulatory affairs.

Clementine Thabuis

Christian Roghi

Christian Roghi is a strategic advisor and catalyst, helping health, biotech and life science companies unlock the potential of microbiome-based solutions. With a background in cancer research and experience at leading microbiome organisations—including Quadram Institute, EnteroBiotix, CosmosID, and Eagle Genomics—he understands both the science and the business of innovation.
Christian partners with startups and established companies to identify growth opportunities, scale ventures and navigate the fast-moving microbiome landscape. As a mentor, coach and orchestrator, he works closely with teams to shape business strategies, accelerate market adoption and drive expansion.
Positioned at the intersection of business development and growth, innovation and technology, he helps companies challenge assumptions, refine strategies and turn potential into lasting impact.

Elena Del Pup

Elena Del Pup is the co-Managing Director of Nucleate Netherlands, a student-led organisation aimed at empowering the next generation of bio-innovators. Elena is also a PhD candidate in Bioinformatics at Wageningen University, Department of Plant Sciences. Her research is focused on developing computational tools to discover and investigate plant-derived natural products via multi-omics data.

James Kinross

James Kinross is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Imperial College London, and he is head of colorectal surgery at Imperial NHS trust. He is also a visiting Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. He was an NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Surgery and an Ethicon Laparoscopic Fellow in Colorectal Surgery. He was awarded a Royal College of Surgeons of England training fellowship during his PhD on the gut microbiome and he was funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences as an early stage lecturer. His research group studies how the gut microbiome causes chronic diseases of the gut such as cancer, and he is the PI on the Chemogut study. James is currently supervising 7 PhD candidates, and he has published over 200 peer reviewed papers.

Marianne Koliana

Marianne is VP of Business Development at Clinical Microbiomics and holds a PhD from Imperial College London where she focused on the interaction between gut microbial metabolites and allergic asthma. Marianne has been part of the team since 2019, bringing both scientific and commercial knowledge to the group. Marianne currently leads the business development team focusing on client interactions worldwide both within microbiome and metabolomics.

Dylan West

Ingmar van Hengel

Ingmar is a biomedical engineer and scientist, and has co-authored over 15 scientific publications. During his studies he co-founded a skin printing startup for burn victims and obtained his PhD at Delft University of Technology on 3D printed antimicrobial implants. Subsequently, he became the Director of Business Intelligence at Alira Health, a leading pharmaceutical consulting firm, where he headed a team of BI consultantsreporting directly to the CEO. At Cryptobiotix, he shapes preclinical study designs for the SIFR® technology, exploring product effects on the gastrointestinal tract and gut microbiome. As such, he engages with food and ingredient producers to translate their research questions into an experimental design that provides an answer to those questions. At events he frequently presents preclinical microbiome studies conducted at Cryptobiotix.

Philippe Langella

Andrew Bartko

Dr. Bartko is currently professor of practice in the Bioengineering department within the in the Jacobs School of Engineering and Pediatrics department within the School of Medicine. Dr. Bartko’s research is centered on microbial identification as applied to rapid microbial methods for defense, diagnostics and quality assurance. Dr. Bartko has successfully created, commercialized, and licensed multiple inventions in the life sciences field. Since 2020, Dr. Bartko has been the Executive Director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI). In his role at CMI, he leads a matrixed research organization that develops technological solutions to applied industrial problems in the nutrition, human health and environment fields. Dr. Bartko’s work continues to focus on leveraging his background in microbial sensing, process integration, and sensor engineering to advance the global understanding of microbiome and metabolomic impacts on human health and wellness. https://cmi.ucsd.edu/

Massimo Marzorati

Guus Kortman

Aiswarya Prasad

Spyridon Markos

Spyridon Markos is a biologist with 23 years of experience applying various technologies to the study of microbes. He has received extensive training ranging from basic microbiology to advanced techniques such as flow cytometry, molecular microbiology, and NGS. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Ulster, School of Biomedical Sciences, focusing on bacterial gene expression. Currently, he is actively engaged in designing, implementing, and advocating for methodologies that enable the extraction of valuable and practical insights from microbiome studies across diverse settings and conditions.

Marie Drago

Marie Drago is a French Pharmacist and the founder of Galline Microbiome Skincare. Created in 2016, the brand was a pionneer in Microbiome Beauty and has been developed to cater for sensitive skin. They also have a scalp range, an oral care range and a gut-skin axis range. Galline was acquired by the Shiseido group in October 2022.

Dan Brownell

Dan Brownell is the Senior Director of Research and Development at AOBiome Therapeutics, responsible for leading their preclinical and R&D programs since joining in 2018. Dan brings 20 years of scientific experience, with a focus on the use of microorganisms to achieve positive outcomes. At AOBiome, Dan leads a high-performing team of scientists responsible for better understanding the mechanisms of action of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria and their use as a treatment for inflammatory disease. Prior to AOBiome, Dan held diverse roles within the biotech community, including in the fields of rapid diagnostics, synthetic biology, and biofuels.

Kristen Neumann

Dr. Kristin Neumann is the co-founder of the certification institute and information platform MyMicrobiome. With a PhD in Microbiology her professional career via research on an antibiotic alternative led her to form MyMicrobiome. Dr. Neumanns realization of how important an intact microbiome is for the individuals wellness factored into her decision to summarize the science around the microbiome and to develop the world’s first and only independent certification for microbiome-friendly cosmetics and personal care products. The Microbiome-friendly quality seal separates scientifically proven quality from pure marketing. This is why not only end consumers, but also ingredient suppliers and retailers rely on the seal as benchmark for highest standards.

Geoff Briggs

Geoff spent almost 30 years conducting scientific research in an academic environment developing his skills as a molecular biologist and biotechnologist, with 13 years dedicated to the study of the bacterial DNA replication and repair. In 2014, he left the academic world to join Walgreens Boots Alliance, and has spent the last 8 years immersed in the area of consumer skincare, where he has developed a passion for the skin microbiome. As the Technology Scout within the No7 Beauty Incubator team, his role is to find non-topical solutions to the needs of the No7 consumer with a focus on devices, diagnostics and digital solutions: discovering, evaluating and developing new technologies which can improve both the customer and the consumer experience.