Prof Karine Clement

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Biography:

Prof Karine Clément is a full professor of nutrition at the Division of Cardiometabolism, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital and at Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris. Since 2011 she is director of the Center of Excellence ICAN (Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition) which is dedicated to innovative care, research and training in the field of cardiology and metabolic diseases. ICAN aims to develop personalised medicine in the field of cardiometabolic diseases.

Karin Clément’s team (Nutriomique) has been involved in genetic and functional genomics studies of human obesity. Her work led to the identification of monogenic forms of obesity (Leptin receptor and MC4R mutations) and to the discovery of several genetic risk factors in common obesity. She has contributed to more than 200 international publications and reviews and many international conferences in this area. She performed a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University, CA, USA where she acquired competencies in gene profiling approaches applied to complex diseases (1999-2000). In 2001 she obtained a young INSERM “Avenir” grant to develop a team focused on the characterization of patterns of gene expression induced by environmental perturbations. Her group showed notably that inflammatory and remodelling genes in human adipose tissue are modulated by weight variation in parallel to macrophage infiltration changes. Deeper insight into mechanisms involved is now the focus of on-going studies. In addition, the team is exploring the link between environment changes and functional modifications in adipose tissue. A particular focus is the role of the gut microbiota and its role in modification of the function of adipose tissue and hence obesity.. She is a member and expert on several national and international scientific committees in obesity and metabolism and contributes to several European Networks in genetics and functional genomics (Diogenes, Hepadip, ADAPT, FLIP).

Main publications:

1. Kong L-C, Tap J, Aron-Wisnewsky J, Pelloux V, Basdevant A, et al. (2013) Gut microbiota after gastric bypass in human obesity: increased richness and associations of bacterial genera with adipose tissue genes. Am J Clin Nutr 98: 16–24. doi:10.3945/ajcn.113.058743.
2. Furet J-P, Kong L-C, Tap J, Poitou C, Basdevant A, et al. (2010) Differential adaptation of human gut microbiota to bariatric surgery-induced weight loss: links with metabolic and low-grade inflammation markers. Diabetes 59: 3049–3057. doi:10.2337/db10-0253.
3. Cotillard A, Kennedy SP, Kong LC, Prifti E, Pons N, et al. (2013) Dietary intervention impact on gut microbial gene richness. Nature 500: 585–588. doi:10.1038/nature12480. 

Institute number: 1

Prof Dominique Gauguier

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Biography:

Dominique Gauguier was trained at the University of Paris where he was awarded a PhD in human nutrition in 1991. In 1994 he joined the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at the University of Oxford where he became professor of mammalian genetics supported by a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship. He moved to the Cordeliers Research Centre in Paris in 2010 on a tenured research director position at the INSERM. 

Main research topics:

His research interests include the genetics of pathophysiological and molecular phenotypes and systems biology strategies designed to tackle the aetiology of complex diseases in rodent models and the application of the results in human genetics and systems medicine.

Main publications:

1. Baud A, Hermsen R, Guryev V, Stridh P, Graham D, et al. (2013) Combined sequence-based and genetic mapping analysis of complex traits in outbred rats. Nat Genet 45: 767–775. doi:10.1038/ng.2644.
2. Deloukas P, Kanoni S, Willenborg C, Farrall M, Assimes TL, et al. (2013) Large-scale association analysis identifies new risk loci for coronary artery disease. Nat Genet 45: 25–33. doi:10.1038/ng.2480.
3. Saar K, Beck A, Bihoreau M-T, Birney E, Brocklebank D, et al. (2008) SNP and haplotype mapping for genetic analysis in the rat. Nat Genet 40: 560–566. doi:10.1038/ng.124.

Web page:  http://www.crcjussieu.fr/crc/index.php?cible=projet_equipe&id=6&spgmGal=equipes/...

Institute number:  1

Prof Serge Hercberg

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Biography:

Full university professor and hospital practitioner at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris 13 and Hôpital Avicenne, Bobigny. He is also head of the research unit U557 at INSERM/INRA/CNAM/IUP13 focussing on nutritional epidemiology (2001 - present). He has a considerable experience in managing epidemiological studies and is the PI of several key cohort and cross-sectional surveys on nutrition and health status in France including SUVIMAX (1994-2003), SUVIMAX2 (2004-09) and the Nutri-net study (2009+). His work has contributed to a better understanding of the role of nutrition, foods, and nutrients in relation to disease prevention and health maintenance and made major impact on nutrition policy in France. 

Main research topics:

Prof Hercberg focuses his research on the relationship between nutrition and health and also the determinants of food habits and nutritional status and in particular, the risk and protection factors related to chronic diseases. The work carried out at Unité de Recherche en Nutritionelle (UREN) is based on cross-sectional studies, cohorts on general and pathological populations and primary and secondary prevention trials.

Main publications:

1. Andreeva VA, Touvier M, Kesse-Guyot E, Julia C, Galan P, et al. (2012) B vitamin and/or ω-3 fatty acid supplementation and cancer: ancillary findings from the supplementation with folate, vitamins B6 and B12, and/or omega-3 fatty acids (SU.FOL.OM3) randomized trial. Arch Intern Med 172: 540–547. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.1450.
2. Briançon S, Boini S, Bertrais S, Guillemin F, Galan P, et al. (2011) Long-term antioxidant supplementation has no effect on health-related quality of life: the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, primary prevention SU.VI.MAX trial. Int J Epidemiol 40: 1605–1616. doi:10.1093/ije/dyr161.
3. Touvier M, Méjean C, Kesse-Guyot E, Pollet C, Malon A, et al. (2010) Comparison between web-based and paper versions of a self-administered anthropometric questionnaire. Eur J Epidemiol 25: 287–296. doi:10.1007/s10654-010-9433-9. 

Institute Number: 1

Dr Marc E Dumas

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Biography:

Dr. Marc-Emmanuel Dumas is lecturer in systems biomedicine. He studied in France and qualified as an engineer in agronomy (MEng, ingénieur agronome) in 1998 followed by two MSc qualifications in biochemistry and genetics and then applied physiology, He was awarded a PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology" in 2002. Dr. Dumas first identified the role of methylamines (gut microbial metabolites) in insulin resistance, and pioneered approaches such as QTL mapping of metabolomics traits in the rat and integrated metabolome and interactome mapping (iMIM). 

Main research topics:

Dr. Dumas’ research interests include metabolomics, quantitative genetics and network biology. More specifically this includes integration of metabolomic data with other "omics" data (transcriptomics, proteomics, genome polymorphism and metagenomics) to identify metabolites and genes associated with pathologies related to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Example pathologies include type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but also ageing and cancer.

Main publications:

1. Dumas M-E (2012) Metabolome 2.0: quantitative genetics and network biology of metabolic phenotypes. Mol Biosyst 8: 2494–2502. doi:10.1039/c2mb25167a.
2. Davidovic L, Navratil V, Bonaccorso CM, Catania MV, Bardoni B, et al. (2011) A metabolomic and systems biology perspective on the brain of the fragile X syndrome mouse model. Genome Res 21: 2190–2202. doi:10.1101/gr.116764.110.
3. Nicholson G, Rantalainen M, Maher AD, Li J V, Malmodin D, et al. (2011) Human metabolic profiles are stably controlled by genetic and environmental variation. Mol Syst Biol 7: 525. doi:10.1038/msb.2011.57.
4. Blaise BJ, Giacomotto J, Elena B, Dumas M-E, Toulhoat P, et al. (2007) Metabotyping of Caenorhabditis elegans reveals latent phenotypes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104: 19808–19812. doi:10.1073/pnas.0707393104.
5. Dumas M-E, Wilder SP, Bihoreau M-T, Barton RH, Fearnside JF, et al. (2007) Direct quantitative trait locus mapping of mammalian metabolic phenotypes in diabetic and normoglycemic rat models. Nat Genet 39: 666–672. doi:10.1038/ng2026.
6. Dumas M-E, Barton RH, Toye A, Cloarec O, Blancher C, et al. (2006) Metabolic profiling reveals a contribution of gut microbiota to fatty liver phenotype in insulin-resistant mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103: 12511–12516. doi:10.1073/pnas.0601056103.

Web page: http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/m.dumas/

Institute Number:  3

Prof Oluf Pedersen

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Biography:

Prof Oluf Pedersen is director at Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (DK) (www.metabol.ku.dk) and professor of molecular metabolism and metabolic genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen. He has extensive leadership experience with multidisciplinary clinical and basic research teams at Steno Diabetes Centre and Hagedorn Research Institute. He is the founder and director of the Lundbeck Foundation Centre for Applied Medical Genomics in Personalised Disease Prediction, Prevention and Care (www.lucamp.org) (2007-2014), an international research centre of excellence. He has published more than 550 original papers and an h-index of 75 (Thomson Reuters Web of Science). 

Main research topics:

Oluf Pedersen and his research team contribute to gain novel insights into the complex and multifactorial aetiology of type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disorders – scientific efforts that aim for novel approaches to prevent and treat these common disorders which are in epidemic growth. 

Applying a variety of biological samples, technologies and statistical-genetics methods the researchers are focused on discovering genomic variation that predisposes for common cardio-metabolic disorders. The genomic discoveries are further characterized in genetic-physiology studies of disease intermediary traits and in large-scale studies of genetic-epidemiology elucidating the interaction of gene variants with health behavior (unhealthy dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle and other environmental factors).

Another major research effort is centered at studies of the role of the gut microbiota in primarily metabolic health and risk of metabolic disorders. Here the research team is doing quantitative metagenomics to characterize the human gut microbiome at levels of microbial genes, various taxa and derived functional potentials. Suspected human pathogenic microbiota is studied mechanistically in animal models.

Main publications:

1. A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing. Nature 2010; 464:59-65.

2. A metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes. Nature 2012; 490:55-60

3. Exome sequencing-driven discovery of coding polymorphisms associated with common metabolic phenotypes. Diabetologia 2013; 56: 298–310

Institute number: 4

Prof Lars Køber

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Biography:

Lars Køber graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1985 as a medical doctor. Since then he has worked on various aspects of cardiovascular disease, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, hypertension and valvular heart disease. Since 1998 he has worked as a specialist in cardiology. He completed his thesis in 1999 with the title: ‘Left ventricular systolic function after acute myocardial infarction: prognostic importance, relation to congestive heart failure and as a target for intervention. He is now a consultant and professor of cardiology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Besides his scientific interest and clinical work he also has a Bachelor in Health care administration from Storestrøms Amts Business School.

Main research topics:

Main subjects are within the field of heart failure, cardiovascular epidemiology, controlled clinical trials, studies of myocardial function, endothelial function and regulation of the microcirculation. During the last five years he has also started investigations on the genetics of heart failure.

Main publications:

Lars Køber has published more than 450 papers including eight articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, seven in The Lancet and two in JAMA. Bibliometrics in Web of Science: average citations/paper: 21; total citations: >10.000; h-index: 51.

Institute number: 4

Dr Peer Bork

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Biography:

Peer Bork, PhD, is senior group leader and joint head of the Structural and Computational Biology unit at EMBL, a European research organisation with headquarters in Heidelberg. He also serves as strategic head of bioinformatics at EMBL. In addition to this he holds an appointment at the Max-Delbrueck-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin. Dr Bork received his PhD in Biochemistry (1990) and his Habilitation in Theoretical Biophysics (1995). His group has published more than 500 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals, with more than 50 in Nature, Science and Cell. According to ISI (analysing 10 year spans), Dr. Bork was for many years the most cited European researcher in molecular biology and genetics and currently is now the most cited European researcher in biochemistry and biology. He is on the editorial board of a number of journals including Science and PLoS Biology, and functions as senior editor of the journal Molecular Systems Biology. Dr Bork co-founded five biotech companies, two of which went public. He received the "Nature award for creative mentoring" for his achievements in nurturing and stimulating young scientists. He was also the recipient of the prestigious "Royal Society and Academie des Science Microsoft award" for the advancement of science using computational methods. He has also obtained a competitive ERC advanced investigator grant.

Main research topics:

He works in various areas of computational biology and systems analysis with a focus on function prediction, comparative analysis and data integration.

Main publications:

1. Blaser M, Bork P, Fraser C, Knight R, Wang J (2013) The microbiome explored: recent insights and future challenges. Nat Rev Microbiol 11: 213–217. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2973.
2. Schloissnig S, Arumugam M, Sunagawa S, Mitreva M, Tap J, et al. (2013) Genomic variation landscape of the human gut microbiome. Nature 493: 45–50. doi:10.1038/nature11711
3. Arumugam M, Raes J, Pelletier E, Le Paslier D, Yamada T, et al. (2011) Enterotypes of the human gut microbiome. Nature 473: 174–180. doi:10.1038/nature09944.
4. Qin J, Li R, Raes J, Arumugam M, Burgdorf KS, et al. (2010) A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing. Nature 464: 59–65. doi:10.1038/nature08821.

Web page: http://www.embl.de/research/units/scb/bork/members/?s_personId=CP-60003241

Institute number: 5

Prof Fredrik Bäckhed

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Biography:

Fredrik Bäckhed holds a PhD obtained in 2002 from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden and performed his postdoctoral training at Washington University, St Louis where he identified the gut microbiota as an environmental factor that regulates adiposity and obesity. Dr Bäckhed is professor at University of Gothenburg, Director of the Wallenberg Laboratory (www.wlab.gu.se) for cardiovascular research, and co-director for the Center for Cardiovascular and Metabolic research (www.cmr.gu.se). He also holds guest professorships at University of Copenhagen and University of Oslo. 

Main research topics:

Prof Fredrik Bäckhed combines clinically orientated research with gnotobiotic mouse models to address the role of the normal gut microbiota in metabolic diseases. 

Main publications:

1. Reinhardt C, Bergentall M, Greiner TU, Schaffner F, Ostergren-Lundén G, et al. (2012) Tissue factor and PAR1 promote microbiota-induced intestinal vascular remodelling. Nature 483: 627–631. doi:10.1038/nature10893.
2. Caesar R, Reigstad CS, Bäckhed HK, Reinhardt C, Ketonen M, et al. (2012) Gut-derived lipopolysaccharide augments adipose macrophage accumulation but is not essential for impaired glucose or insulin tolerance in mice. Gut 61: 1701–1707. doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2011-301689
3. Tremaroli V, Bäckhed F (2012) Functional interactions between the gut microbiota and host metabolism. Nature 489: 242–249. doi:10.1038/nature11552.

Institute number: 6

Prof Jeroen Raes

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Biography:

Jeroen Raes is group leader of the Bioinformatics and (eco-)Systems Biology (BSB) research group at VIB in Brussels. He has an extensive track record in meta-omics and microbiome research. He is associate editor for ISME journal, Scientific Reports (Nature publishing group), SIGS and Genomics Insights and is reviewer and/or committee member for ANR/NWO/FWO/ERC proposals.

Academic career:

PhD: Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium, 2003
Post-doc positions: Dept of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, Ghent, Belgium, 2003-05 and EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany, 2005-07
Scientist at EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany, 2007-09
VIB Group leader since September 2009

Main research topics:

The Raes lab combines large-scale, next-generation sequencing with novel computational approaches to investigate the functioning and variability of the healthy human microbiome at the systems level and studies its alteration in disease.

Main publications:

1. Hildebrand F, Nguyen TLA, Brinkman B, Yunta RG, Cauwe B, et al. (2013) Inflammation-associated enterotypes, host genotype, cage and inter-individual effects drive gut microbiota variation in common laboratory mice. Genome Biol 14: R4. doi:10.1186/gb-2013-14-1-r4.
2. Qin J, Li Y, Cai Z, Li S, Zhu J, et al. (2012) A metagenome-wide association study of gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes. Nature 490: 55–60. doi:10.1038/nature11450.
3. The Human Microbiome Project Consortium (2012) Structure, function and diversity of the healthy human microbiome. Nature 486: 207–214. doi:10.1038/nature11234.

Web page: http://www.vib.be/en/research/scientists/pages/jeroen-raes-lab.aspx

Institute number: 7

Prof Fabrizio Andreelli

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Biography:

Fabrizio Andreelli MD, PhD, is professor of diabetology at University Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6. He works in the Department of Diabetology-Metabolism, Heart and Metabolism Division, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (Paris) which is part of the Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN). The Department of Diabetology-Metabolism is focused on the clinical management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and their complications, educational training, metabolic phenotyping and classification of insulin resistant states and diabetes. He is a member of the strategic committee of ICAN and an expert in the Department of Metabolic Evaluation in Humans and in the animal house of the Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital.

Main research topics:

His current research interests are the development of methods for the evaluation of insulin resistance and insulin secretion in vivo in both humans and in animal models of metabolic diseases. He also studies the metabolic effects of bariatric surgery in humans and in a mice model of gastric lap-band and gastric bypass.

Main publications:

1. Chandarana K, Gelegen C, Karra E, Choudhury AI, Drew ME, et al. (2011) Diet and gastrointestinal bypass-induced weight loss: the roles of ghrelin and peptide YY. Diabetes 60: 810–818. doi:10.2337/db10-0566.
2. Foretz M, Hébrard S, Leclerc J, Zarrinpashneh E, Soty M, et al. (2010) Metformin inhibits hepatic gluconeogenesis in mice independently of the LKB1/AMPK pathway via a decrease in hepatic energy state. J Clin Invest 120: 2355–2369. doi:10.1172/JCI40671.
3. Troy S, Soty M, Ribeiro L, Laval L, Migrenne S, et al. (2008) Intestinal gluconeogenesis is a key factor for early metabolic changes after gastric bypass but not after gastric lap-band in mice. Cell Metab 8: 201–211. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2008.08.008.
4. Viollet B, Andreelli F, Jørgensen SB, Perrin C, Geloen A, et al. (2003) The AMP-activated protein kinase alpha2 catalytic subunit controls whole-body insulin sensitivity. J Clin Invest 111: 91–98. doi:10.1172/JCI16567.

Institute number: 8

Prof Jean-Michel Oppert

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Biography:

Jean-Michel Oppert, MD, PhD, is professor of nutrition at University Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6. He is head of the Department of Nutrition, Heart and Metabolism Division, Pitié-Salpêtrière University Hospital (Paris) which is part of the Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition (ICAN). The Department of Nutrition is focused on the management of severe and complex obesity cases.

He is founding member (2005-12) of the steering committee of the Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA)-Europe network, which is supported by WHO Europe. He is past president (2009-12) of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO). 

Main research topics:

His current research interests include the measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in health and disease, the investigation of environmental determinants of physical activity and eating habits, and the study of behavioural and physiological changes associated with surgery-induced weight loss. He has been or is involved in EU projects centred on obesity and/or physical activity. These include Nugenob (FP5), HOPE (FP6), SPOTLIGHT (FP7), ALPHA (DG SANCO). At national level, he acted as coordinator for the multidisciplinary ELIANE (Environmental links to physical activity, nutrition and health) project (ANR 2007-11), and he is currently coordinator of the ACTI-Cités project, focused on active transport, urban mobility and health (INCA, National Cancer Research Fund 2011-14).

Main publications:

1. Charreire H, Weber C, Chaix B, Salze P, Casey R, et al. (2012) Identifying built environmental patterns using cluster analysis and GIS: relationships with walking, cycling and body mass index in French adults. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 9: 59. doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-59.
2. Vatier C, Henegar C, Ciangura C, Poitou-Bernert C, Bouillot J-L, et al. (2012) Dynamic relations between sedentary behavior, physical activity, and body composition after bariatric surgery. Obes Surg 22: 1251–1256. doi:10.1007/s11695-012-0619-y.
3. Jacobi D, Ciangura C, Couet C, Oppert J-M (2011) Physical activity and weight loss following bariatric surgery. Obes Rev 12: 366–377. doi:10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00731.x.

Institute number: 8

Prof Michael Stumvoll

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Biography:

Prof. Stumvoll is an expert in the genetics of obesity and its associated diseases, the molecular characterisation of the regulation of hunger and satiety as well as the identification and validation of adipokines as a potential link between obesity, fat distribution and metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. Prof. Stumvoll is speaker of the clinical research group “Atherobesity” and the Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases.

Main research topics:

Research interests include the pathogenesis of adiposity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus, the genetics of adiposity-associated disease, the regulation of hunger and satiety, adipokines, and the prevention of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Main publications:

1. Tirosh A, Golan R, Harman-Boehm I, Henkin Y, Schwarzfuchs D, et al. (2013) Renal function following three distinct weight loss dietary strategies during 2 years of a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care 36: 2225–2232. doi:10.2337/dc12-1846.
2. Schleinitz D, Klöting N, Lindgren CM, Breitfeld J, Dietrich A, et al. (2014) Fat depot-specific mRNA expression of novel loci associated with waist-hip ratio. Int J Obes (Lond) 38: 120–125. doi:10.1038/ijo.2013.56
3. Schlögl H, Kabisch S, Horstmann A, Lohmann G, Müller K, et al. (2013) Exenatide-induced reduction in energy intake is associated with increase in hypothalamic connectivity. Diabetes Care 36: 1933–1940. doi:10.2337/dc12-1925.

Web page: http://www.ifb-adipositas.de/en/prof-dr-michael-stumvoll

Institute number: 9

Prof Matthias Bluher

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Biography:

Matthias Blüher is professor in molecular endocrinology at the University of Leipzig and has extensive practical experience in the treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes, obesity and endocrine disorders. He is also the head of the coordinated research centre “Obesity mechanisms” (www.sfb1052.de) and a coordinator of the federally-funded Competence Network Obesity (CNO). He has published ~ 230 original research and review articles in the field of obesity research, pathogenesis of adverse fat distribution, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and other obesity related diseases.

Main research topics:

Prof. Blüher has a specific research focus on the study of adipose tissue function including the regulation of adipose tissue cellularity and adipokine secretion. He has conducted several clinical trials on the effects of pharmacologic interventions in the treatment of diabetes and obesity, and the effects of different exercise regimens, dietary strategies and bariatric surgery.

Main publications:

1. Blüher M, Kahn BB, Kahn CR (2003) Extended longevity in mice lacking the insulin receptor in adipose tissue. Science 299: 572–574. doi:10.1126/science.1078223.
2. Blüher M, Michael MD, Peroni OD, Ueki K, Carter N, et al. (2002) Adipose tissue selective insulin receptor knockout protects against obesity and obesity-related glucose intolerance. Dev Cell 3: 25–38. doi:10.1016/S1534-5807(02)00199-5
3. Klöting N, Fasshauer M, Dietrich A, Kovacs P, Schön MR, et al. (2010) Insulin-sensitive obesity. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 299: E506–15. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00586.2009.

Web page: http://www.ifb-adipositas.de/en/prof-dr-matthias-blueher

Institute number: 9

Dr Nicolas Gausserès

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Biography:

Dr Nicolas Gausserès has 20 years of experience in research and development programmes. In the last 15 years, through different positions, he has been closely involved in most of the nutrition and health programmes of Groupe Danone and has contributed to the launch and scientific research behind some brands. He also headed the clinical trial department for Danone. He is currently director of nutrition for Danone Research, the R&D organisation of Danone. In this role, he is in charge of improving the company’s nutrition performance and for building the expertise and the internal capacity to make Danone products more relevant with respect to the nutrition and public health objectives of different countries.

Main research topics:

His main scientific expertise areas are nutrition, public health, nutrition physiology and eating behaviour. He has a solid background in food science. He has a strong experience in managing research programmes, innovation and scientific communications in the food industry.

Institute number: 10

Dr Douwina Bosscher

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Biography:

Douwina Bosscher has a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences. Her current position is global leader nutrition sciences, Cargill Global FIS (Food Ingredient Systems) R&D. Her work involves leading Cargill nutrition research programmes in relation to diverse health areas, the development of strategic research plans, and working together with various research institutes/universities. This includes (multi-disciplinary) collaborative research projects, (scientific) support for Cargill’s business units, partnering with business strategy development, scientific substantiation of health claim dossiers, representing Cargill in scientific-oriented organisations, building customer relations, presenting scientific concepts and results, and authoring publications and book chapters.

Institute number: 11

Prof Jens Nielsen

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Biography:

Jens Nielsen has an MSc degree in chemical engineering and a PhD degree (1989) in biochemical engineering from the Danish Technical University (DTU). Subsequently he established his independent research group and was appointed full professor there in 1998. In 2008 he was recruited as professor and director at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, where he is currently director of a research group of more than 50 people in the Life Science Area of Advance, which coordinates over 200 researchers in five departments. Jens Nielsen has published so far more than 400 research papers that have been cited more than 12,000 times (current H-factor 53).

Main research topics:

Jens Nielsen’s main research interests are metabolic engineering of industrial microorganisms for production of fuels and chemicals, systems biology of microorganisms, systems medicine and human metabolism, and gut metagenomics and systems biology.

Web page: http://www.sysbio.se/Lab_Nielsen/lab_nielsen.html

Institute number: 12

Dr Catherine Clusel

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Catherine joined Inserm-Transfert in 2005. She graduated from the Ecole Normal Superieure in Paris, and received a PhD in molecular virology at the University René Diderot in 1996. She completed her studies mainly in the private sector (pre-doctoral study at L'Oreal and PhD studies at Genset). After completion of her thesis, she continued her research on cardiovascular disease in biotechnology companies. She also won the Aventis Foundation award for the creation of the company Helios Biosciences and helped set up within the engineering school ESIEA a teaching methodology in bioinformatics and life sciences. She is a regular expert at the European Commission for the People program. Thanks to her job training and experience as project leader in biotech, Catherine has experience with managing international research projects and multidisciplinary teams.

As a senior manager of many European projects, Catherine Clusel has acquired extensive experience in setting up and managing European and transatlantic projects in the field of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. This includes EVGN (FP6-NoE coordinated by Inserm), Florinash (FP7-medium-scale coordinated by INSERM),NanoAthero (FP7-wide scale coordinated by INSERM) and various transatlantic alliances funded by the Fondation Leducq (CAPTAA; cycAMP and MITRAL).

Institute Number: 13

Dr Ivica Letunic

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Biography:

After obtaining his PhD in natural sciences, Dr Letunic was involved in various large-scale data integration and visualisation projects, often leading their development. He is an experienced developer of databases and data visualisation user interfaces. Dr Letunic will serve as the lead coordinator of Biobyte's team in the scope of the project. 

Main research topics:

Bioinformatics, biological data visualisation, user interface research and development.

Main publications:

1. Zdobnov EM, von Mering C, Letunic I, Torrents D, Suyama M, et al. (2002) Comparative genome and proteome analysis of Anopheles gambiae and Drosophila melanogaster. Science 298: 149–159. doi:10.1126/science.1077061.
2. Waterston RH, Lindblad-Toh K, Birney E, Rogers J, Abril JF, et al. (2002) Initial sequencing and comparative analysis of the mouse genome. Nature 420: 520–562. doi:10.1038/nature01262.
3. Minguez P, Letunic I, Parca L, Bork P (2013) PTMcode: a database of known and predicted functional associations between post-translational modifications in proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 41: D306–11. doi:10.1093/nar/gks1230.

Web page: http://www.biobyte.de

Institute number: 14