Dr. Sue Ishaq, PhD, Associate Professor of Microbiomes, Associate Director of Special Projects in the School of Food and Agriculture at the UMaine; member of the Board of Directors at ASM; Founder and Lead of the Microbes and Social Equity working group.

“The second messenger c-di-GMP in Bordetella”

Dr. Federico Sisti, Ph.D., Investigator, Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology (IBBM) of the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET). Dr. Sisti is incoming President-Elect at the American Society of Microbiology, and the first ASM President representing its global membership.

“Leveraging organ-on-chip technology to study gut microbiome effects on human health and disease“, Dr. Dani Brassino, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gut Microbiome and Cancer Interactions, The University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Following a B.S. in Nutrition Science and at the University of Texas, Dani Brasino acquired a PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado. At CU, she developed synthetic phospholipids as part of an artificial cell project and acquired experience in microfluidics fabrication. Combining these experiences, she led development of a novel polycarbonate-based organ-on-chip platform as a postdoc at Oregon Health and Science University. Now her lab, the μMicrobiome Lab, aims to further develop and apply gut microbiome-on-chips to study the relationship between the human gut microbiome, distal disease progression, and therapeutic efficacy.

“Genetic and Microbiome Control of Addiction-like Behaviors in Mice”, Dr. Jason Bubier, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, Center for Addiction Biology, The Jackson Laboratory

Jason A. Bubier, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Scientist at The Jackson Laboratory, where he leads research at the intersection of genetics, behavior, and addiction biology. His work focuses on uncovering the genetic and physiological factors that shape vulnerability to addictive substances, with current projects examining the microbiome’s influence on behavior, the genetic architecture of opioid‑induced respiratory depression, and systems‑level pathways involved in addiction.

Dr. Bubier has spent more than two decades at The Jackson Laboratory, advancing through multiple research roles and contributing to major initiatives in functional genomics and behavioral genetics. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications, and his work is widely cited across fields including immunology, bioinformatics, and addiction science.

“Food insecurity, gut microbiome, health”, Dr. Maria Carlota Dao, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition, University of New Hampshire.

Dr. Maria Carlota Dao is an Assistant Professor of Human Nutrition in the Department of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems at the University of New Hampshire. As an interdisciplinary scientist focused on obesity research, she investigates the interplay of cardiometabolic risks, dietary and psychosocial factors, and the gut microbiota. Through this work she seeks to address obesity in health disparity populations. Prior to becoming a faculty member at UNH, Dr. Dao worked as a scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Her training includes a postdoctoral fellowship at the Sorbonne University and INSERM (Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition) in France, and a PhD in Biochemical and Molecular Nutrition from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

“How to build a microbiome to “breed” better plant-inoculants.” Dr.  Anna O’Brien, PhD., Assistant Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences, University of New Hampshire.

She is originally from the Pacific Northwest. She received her B.S. in Plant Biology from the University of Washington, her PhD from the University of California Davis, where she worked with Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra and Sharon Strauss on the impacts of rhizosphere biota on trait divergence and adaptation in the wild relatives of maize. Anna Post-doc’ed at the University of Toronto, primarily with Megan Frederickson, but also with Chelsea Rochman, David Sinton and unofficially, Stephen Wright, in everything to do with duckweeds and duckweed microbiomes (from mutualisms, to ecotoxicology, to engineering better tools, and experimental “evolution” and epigenetics).

“Salt marsh microbiomes are impacted by waterway restrictions in coastal Maine.” Heather Richard, M.S., PhD. Candidate in Ecology and Environmental Sciences, UMaine.

Heather joined the University of Maine in 2021 as a PhD student with the Maine eDNA program and studies the impacts of bridges and roads on microbial communities in salt marsh habitats. Her background in Ecology led her to pursue a career in informal environmental education for several years before getting a Master’s degree in Marine Biology from San Francisco State University studying biofilms on microplastics pollution. Upon returning to Maine in 2016 she led local research for a coastal non-profit organization and has since been dedicated to studying coastal environmental issues relevant to Maine. She has found a true passion in bioinformatic analysis and is eager to learn new tools for data analysis of all kinds. 

“Genomic Strategies for Discovering Microbial Dark Matter using Metagenomics“ Scott Tighe, M.S., Senior Research Associate, Environmental Microbiome Engineering Research Group, Dept of Civil Engineering, University of Vermont.
Scott Tighe is currently Senior Research Associate in the Environmental Microbiome Engineering Research Group in the Dept of Civil Engineering at the University of Vermont and past technical director of the UVM Genomics Facility. He has expertise in all areas of genomics, microbiology, and mycology with a specific focus on advancing the methods used for microbiome and metagenomic analysis. He specializes performing metagenomic analysis in global extreme sites such Greenland, Antarctica, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Crete, Tahiti, and the International Space Station to name a few and is currently the science lead of the Extreme Microbiome Project (XMP). Short Abstract: The ability to perform advanced genomic techniques on samples collected from extreme environments demands high performance reagents and techniques not commonly used in most labs today. For the past15 years, our projects have developed novel sampling and DNA sequencing protocols for profiling a variety of environments, including snow, glaciers, Antarctic lakes, Romanian caves, thermophilic ecosystems, halophilic, acidic, alkaline lakes, anaerobic digestors as well as organisms from bioaerosols and the International Space Station. Technical approaches include novel liquid concentrating devices, sample disruptors, biopulverizers, and field use of the Oxford Nanopore DNA sequencer. Whole Genome sequencing results indicate that for many unique sights, 5-30% of all organisms are not classified beyond Genus with a large number being new species.

“Beverage safety”, Sam White, M.S., Quality Control Collaboratory (QC2), University of Southern Maine

Samantha White is a dedicated researcher and educator with extensive experience in analytical chemistry and the craft beverage industry. Sam manages the Quality Control Collaboratory at USM where she leads lab operations, quality control initiatives, research projects, and industry outreach programs.