Ahmad Khodr

After my “Maîtrise” in Biochemistry in Lebanon, I have been selected by the International Scholarship program of the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan to do my master’s in Microbiology and Biochemistry.

Following my Master’s degree, I pursued a Ph.D. research program in Microbiology and Molecular Biology at the ENS Cachan in France, concentrating on the control of virulence by H-NS family proteins in Enteropathogenic E. coli. I completed a Post-Doc research program at the Pasteur Institute Paris, where I used Transcriptomics and Next Generation Sequencing technologies to investigate Legionella pneumophila pathogenicity mechanisms.

At L’Oréal Research and Innovation, I now lead the Microbiology Innovation Lab and transversal projects focused to Microbiome Analysis and the discovery of natural antimicrobial compounds. We work also on translating novel Microbiome derived concepts to beauty products.

I published and presented my research work in well recognized international peer reviewed journals and congresses.

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.

Simona Befi

Simona started her trip in the world of the biotechnologies in Italy, at the University of Naples “Federico II” where she graduated in Industrial Biotechnology. Motivated in exploring the boundaries of microbial applications across various industries, she specialized in fermentation and bioprocess engineering, contributing to the development and scale-up of bio-based products. In September 2023, she joined S-Biomedic as Head of R&D and leading the challenge in understanding the interactions between bacterial communities, from a bioreactor to our skin.

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.

Catherine O’Neil

Catherine O’Neill received both her bachelors degree and PhD from the University of Wales, Bangor where she studied bacterial biochemistry. Subsequently, she was a research fellow at the University of Leeds for 5 years before securing her first tenured appointment as a lecturer at the University of Manchester. Subsequently she was promoted to senior lecturer and then finally to Professor of Translational Dermatology, the post she currently holds at the University of Manchester.
Professor O’Neill’s interests are in using bacteria and their products for the treatment of skin in health and disease. The laboratory has a very translational focus and has a record in translating basic findings into human studies via the technology transfer into commercial vehicles. Professor O’Neill has been involved in this area since 2011 and has created two spin out companies: Curapel in 2014 and SkinBiotherapeutics PLC in 2017. Professor O’Neill was the CEO and is now CSO of SkinBiotherapeutics.

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.

Søren Kjaerulff

Søren holds a Ph.D from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Søren is CEO and CSO of Lactobio which performs the discovery and development of new lactic acid bacterial strains for microbiome care of skin issues like eczema, acne, dandruff, and anti-aging. Former R&D senior director of biopharma R&D at Novozymes responsible for anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory peptides and albumin half-life extension of peptide drugs. Former vice president of R&D at Pantheco and Santaris Pharma.

Peter Lersch

Peter Lersch is a Vice President for Evonik’s Innovation Growth field Cosmetic Solutions, which is part of the business line Care Solutions. Holding a doctorate in Technical Chemistry/Chemical Engineering from the University of Essen, Germany, Peter has worked in Evonik and its predecessor companies in different R&D management and technical positions for over 33 years. His research activity is documented by over 30 German patents and numerous foreign patents and as author/co-author of more than 20 scientific articles.
His career highlights include: Setting up the business of cosmetic active ingredients, heading up R&D for the complete portfolio of Care Ingredients and responsibility for the Global Innovation management of the business line Personal Care. Since 4 years, Peter is in charge of Evonik’s Growth Field Cosmetic Solutions, where one of his tasks includes the identification of promising early stage technology/business opportunities for the company’s cosmetic product portfolio.

Björn Andersson

Holger Brüggemann

PhD in microbiology at the University of Göttingen, Germany; Postdoc in microbial pathogenomics at the Institute Pasteur, Paris, France (3 years); Team leader at the Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany (4 years). Since 2011 Associate Professor and PI at the Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Denmark. The Brüggemann lab investigates the human skin microbiota and its role in health and disease.

Kim Hardie

Professor Kim Hardie FRSB co-leads the Division of Infection, Immunity and Microbes within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Nottingham. Kim studied at the Universities of Leicester and Cambridge (UK) before undertaking research at the University of Victoria (Canada) and Institut Pasteur (Paris, France). Her research identified key mechanistic steps in bacterial protein secretion pathways and progressed our understanding of the fitness burden that results from the production of signalling molecules used by bacteria to communicate with each other, and how this impacts pathogenicity. Currently, Kim’s research group investigate how bacteria form coordinated communities (biofilms) in chronic skin wound infections since these are notoriously hard to treat and have life-changing consequences. State-of-the-art multidisciplinary approaches are combined with realistic polymicrobial infection models to discover novel antimicrobials, more effective combination therapies, or diagnostic biomarkers. Kim is senior editor for the Microbiology Society Journal of Medical Microbiology.

Sabrina Behnke

Dr. Sabrina Behnke holds a BSc in Water Sciences from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and a PhD in Microbiology from Montana State University. During her graduate studies she investigated microbial biofilms in water distribution systems at the Center for Biofilm Engineering in Bozeman, MT, where she collaborated with multinational consumer goods companies. Dr. Behnke then joined Reckitt Benckiser as a R&D microbiologist, supporting EPA claim substation for disinfectant household products. Additionally, she held roles in Personal Care Formulation Innovation and Technology Scouting. In 2018, she switched from the manufacturer’s to the supplier’s side of the industry as a Global Product Manager for Symrise where she managed a portfolio of Multifunctionals and Preservatives and launched the SymProBiome® platform. Today, Dr. Behnke is an Associate Business Director for biopolymers and preservatives with TRI-K Industries. Within the PCPC microbiology committee, she co-leads the Microbiome Task Force.

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.

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.

Michelle Dargatz

Michelle Dargatz’s journey in the field of microbiology began with her Master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from the University of Bonn, where she developed a strong interest in the microbial world and its potential applications in various industries. Since 2017, she has been specializing in microbiome research at Evonik´s Research, Development & Innovation in Germany, where she is involved the development of innovative testing methods for cosmetic products to evaluate their impact on the skin’s microbiome.

Shakiba Kaveh

Shakiba is Co-founder & CEO of Mitra Bio, a skin diagnostics start-up based in London that uses epigenetics to diagnose various skin diseases including skin aging and skin cancer. Shakiba worked for L’OREAL as a scientist in a past life.

Roger Frechette

Roger is a veteran life science executive with extensive experience in strategic planning and business development. His business insights derive from a foundational background encompassing success in entrepreneurship, leadership in project and strategic alliance management, and biotech R&D leadership. He is also active in giving back to the life science ecosystem with his work in entrepreneur education and mentorship.

Benjamin Al

2023 – today: Global Innovation Manager Life Sciences at Beiersdorf AG
2022 – 2023: Research Scientist at Beiersdorf AG
2018 – 2022: PhD Student at Beiersdorf AG and Hannover Medical School
2011 – 2017: Studies in Bioengineering (B.Eng.) and Molecular Biotechnology (M.Sc.) in Munich

Scholarships: Max Weber Program (Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts), German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes) and Deutschlandstiftung Integration.
Prices: Oskar von Miller Price for best thesis; Early Career Scientist Award from Germany Society for Plant Sciences

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.

Ana Finzel

Dr. Finzel earned her doctorate from the Max Delbrck Center for Molecular Medicine/Free University in Berlin. Afterward, she spent over three years working in the precision oncology field and acquired broad experience in cancer treatment management and tumor biomarkers. She joined Bio-Me in December 2020 as Senior Scientist and is currently involved in projects studying the influence of gut, vaginal, and skin microbiomes in health and disease.

David Gangitano

Dr. David Gangitano earned his bachelor’s in chemistry and PhD in Forensic Genetics at University of Buenos Aires. After postdoctoral studies in neuroscience and neuro-urology at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas) Dr. Gangitano got his tenure at Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas) and was promoted full professor in Forensic genetics before moving to Europe. Dr. Gangitano has 40 peer-reviewed scientific publications. In Spain, Dr. Gangitano switched to the cosmetics field and started working as Senior scientist at Eres Piel (First and Last project SL). Today, Dr. Gangitano enjoys his applied research work on skin microbiome, and lectures forensic dentistry at the College of Medicine of the Catholic University of Murcia.

Arno Bouwens

Arno Bouwens is head of R&D at Perseus Biomics, where he leads the development of DynaMAP technology and platforms. With a background in engineering, Arno’s expertise lies in optical and electronic systems development. He earned his PhD from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, where he specialized in cutting-edge biomedical imaging technology. As a researcher, Arno worked on DNA mapping technology, and optical implementations of machine learning techniques. As an engineer, he worked on optical metrology instruments and satellite-based imaging hardware. He draws upon his experience to spearhead the development of groundbreaking technologies. His focus is on crafting precise and high-capacity data generation tools tailored specifically for applications in the life sciences.