Do we know the bacteria that live with us?
Do we know the impact they have in our lives?

16 July, from 17h30 to 19h30
Auditorium 2, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Free entrance with required registration here.

We share our whole lives with a community of millions of bacteria in our bodies. Most of these bacteria are not harmful and many are even beneficial. Recent advances in research show that the composition of this community can greatly influence our physiology and health, by affecting aspects ranging from metabolism to immunity.

The Conference, organized by IGC, aims to promote the knowledge generated in different research groups dedicated to study the profound impact of bacteria in our lives, but also in the lives of other animals and plants.

Programme

17h30 – Network café e snacks

18h00 – Welcome session: Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência researchers

18h10 – Plants’ Little Helpers: How Plants Benefit From Their Microbiome Professor Paul Schulze-Lefert, Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany

18h30 – Microbes as Friends: Insights from Simple Animals
Professor Thomas Bosch, Kiel University and Origin and Function of Metaorganisms CRC, Kiel, Germany

18h50 – Gut Microbes in an Age of Disruptive Change
Professor Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Ruetgers University, New York, US

19h10 – Discussion & closing remarks

Speakers

“Plants’ Little Helpers: How Plants Benefit From Their Microbiome”
Professor Paul Schulze-Lefert, Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany

Professor Paul Schulze-Lefert is a Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research. His research focuses on the interaction of plants with microbes. Recently he has studied how the bacteria associated with the roots of plants are fundamental for their growth.

“Microbes as Friends: Insights from Simple Animals”
Professor Thomas Bosch, Kiel University and Origin and Function of Metaorganisms CRC, Kiel, Germany

Professor Thomas Bosch is the Speaker of the Metaorganisms research center, in Keil, which studies the integration of animals, or plants, with their microbes. His research has uncovered fundamental principles of these associations studying the simple animal Hydra.

“Gut Microbes in an Age of Disruptive Change”
Professor Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Ruetgers University, New York, US

Professor Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello studies the colonization of humans by bacteria since birth and the impact of this colonization in health. She is also interest how human microbiota has been altered by Westernization. She has been studying and promoting the preservation of the microbial communities from isolated human populations with no contact with western societies.