The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr Enric Canela, vice-rector for Science Policy of the UB; Dr Ricard Guerrero, professor from the Department of Microbiology of the UB and president of SEM; Dr Miquel Viñas, delegate manager of Bellvitge Health Sciences Campus, and Dr Antonio Ventosa, president elect of SEM.
The 24th Congress of Microbiology takes place from 10 to 13 July in the Aulari of Bellvitge Health Sciences Campus. The scientific meeting is arranged by an organising committee led by Dr Miquel Viñas, professor from the Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapy of the UB, and a scientific committee headed by Dr Albert Bosch, professor from the Department of Microbiology of the UB and president of the Spanish Society for Virology.
New boundaries of microbiology research
Experts from national and international universities and research centres from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Belgium, Mexico and Brazil participate in the congress of SEM, an institution founded in 1946. The congress encourages young researchers to participate; it includes scientific symposiums, poster presentations and speeches on topics such as the new boundaries of microbiology research on molecular basis of bacterial pathogenicity, fungal virulence, microbial agents for biodegradation and bioremediation in polluted environments, omic technologies in food microbiology, industrial microbiology, the role of bacteriophages as agents of gene transfer in the environment, etc.
In memory of Lynn Margulis, promoter of the endosymbiotic theory
It is important to remark that the congress also includes the symposium “Microbes, symbiosis and evolution. In memory of Lynn Margulis” (Thursday 11 July, 8 a.m.), a discussion moderated by professor Ricard Guerrero to pay tribute to the prestigious North-American biologist known for the endosymbiotic theory.
On Friday 12 July, at 8 a.m., a symposium focused on the key factors of microbiology scientific communication takes place. The session is moderated by Manuel Sánchez Angulo (Miguel Hernández University) and Ignacio López Goñi (University of Navarra). Participants are: Cristina Ribas and Mercè Piqueras, president and former president, respectively, of the Catalan Association for Science Communication (ACCC), and José Antonio López Guerrero (Autonomous University of Madrid).
To facilitate the access to quality microbial resources
On 12 July, at 10.30 a.m., the congress also hosts a tribute to the microbiologist Miguel Regué, UB professor who died prematurely in 2012. UB professors Miquel Viñas, Antonio Juárez and Juan Tomás participate in the event which includes a lecture given by the expert Roland Benz, professor of Biophysics and Microbiology at Jacobs University Bremen (Germany), honorary doctorate from the UB (2007) and from Umeå University (Sweden).
At 11.30 a.m., the project Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) is presented. It is an initiative which aims at creating an infrastructure that facilitates the access to quality microbial resources, as well as to the information they generate and the services offered by these collections of genetic and microbial resources.
The closing of the 24th Congress of Microbiology of SEM takes place on Saturday 13 July, at 7 p.m., in the headquarters of the Institute for Catalan Studies. The event includes an award ceremony and the lecture “Aproximació molecular a la seguretat alimentària”, given by Dr David Rodríguez Lázaro (University of Burgos).
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