Programme
15th April 2026
| 08h00 am | Registration |
| 09h00 am | Welcome Session Chair: Teresa G. Ribeiro, Ana Almeida |
| 09h15 am | Keynote Speaker The Purposeful Wanderers: Body-Brain Communication Pathways Across the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis John Cryan University College Cork Ireland Chair: Ana Almeida |
| 10h05 am | Session 1: Gut Microbiome & Health Session Chairs: Gracinda Sanches Fernandes, Isabel Gordo Invited Talk James Kinross Imperial College London United Kingdom |
| 10h30 am | Coffee break |
| 11h00 am | “Context dependent anxiety associations with dietary intake and gut microbiome features in a longitudinal cohort of young women with sub clinical anxiety: a systems psychobiology approach” Selected abstract 1: Melissa Basso |
| 11h15 am | “SCIMBIONT: Gut Microbiome Trajectories and Functional Recovery During Rehabilitation After Spinal Cord Injury” Selected abstract 2: Maria Ribeiro da Cunha |
| 11h30 am | Invited Talk Pedro Mesquita Hospital de Gaia Portugal |
| 11h55 am | “Pioneers of the Invisible. Exploring pioneering research in probiotics and microbiota: lessons from Biocodex.” Susana Veloso Biocodex Sponsor short talk |
| 12h10 pm | Lunch |
| 1h30 pm | Poster Session 1 |
| 2h30 pm |
Panel Discussion 1: From Bench to Bedside to Boardroom: The Future of Probiotics Moderator: Johan Hylckama Vlieg (Freya Biosciences, USA) |
| 3h30 pm | Coffee break |
| 3h50 pm | Session 2: Diet, Nutrition & the Gut Microbiome Session Chairs: Ana Faria, Conceição Egas Invited Talk Cláudia Nunes dos Santos Nova Medical School Portugal |
| 4h15 pm | “Unravelling PFAS-Microbiome Interactions: Inulin as a Modulator of PFAS-Driven Gut Dysbiosis” Selected abstract 3: Luciana Pereira |
| 4h30 pm | “PREDICTING GUT MICROBIOTA DIVERSITY FROM DIET: A TOOL TO OPTIMIZE FECAL DONOR SELECTION” Selected abstract 4: Liliana Dinis |
| 4h45 pm | SPIMP: Sociedade Portuguesa para a Inovação em Microbioma e Probióticos Pedro Brogueira |
| 5h00 pm | End of the Day |
| 8h00 pm | Conference Dinner |
16th April 2026
| 09h00 am | Keynote Speaker Invited Keynote Nicola Segata CIBIO Department University of Trento Italy Chair: Ana Almeida |
| 09h50 am | Session 3: Microbiome Data Analysis & Computational Approaches Session Chairs: Teresa Nogueira, Ana Teresa Freitas Invited Talk Sara Vieira-Silva University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Germany |
| 10h15 am | Coffee break |
| 10h45 am | “Opportunities and challenges in integrating cross-platform functional metagenomics” Selected abstract 5: Kinga Zielinska |
| 11h00 am | “Eco-evolutionary dynamics of Escherichia coli invasion across human gut microbiotas” Selected abstract 6: Hugo Barreto |
| 11h15 am | “Integrating Expanded Stool Metabolites with Microbiome Readouts” Josué Carvalho Invitek Sponsor short talk |
| 11h40 am |
Panel Discussion 2: Advances in Microbiome Testing & Diagnostics Moderator: Amine Zorgani (Microbiome Mavericks, France) |
| 12h45 pm | Lunch |
| 1h45 pm | Poster Session 2 |
| 2h45 pm | Session 4: Microbiomes & Host Interaction Session Chairs: Clarisse Nobre, André Santos Invited Talk Ludovica Marinelli Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET) · University Gent Belgium |
| 3h10 pm | “Oral supplementation with Parabacteroides merdae alleviates binge-like eating and associated cognitive features in mice” Selected abstract 7: Nuria Morales Puerto |
| 3h25 pm | “Shotgun metagenomic profiling reveals microbial and functional signatures of peri-implant Health and peri-implantitis” Selected abstract 8: Lucinda Bessa |
| 3h40 pm | Coffee break |
| 4h10 pm | Session 5: Citizen Science & Microbiomes Session Chairs: Johan Hylckama Vlieg, Sara Silvério |
| 4h15 pm | Exploring the diversity and functionality of lactobacilli with citizen science: from fermented food to the vagina Sarah Lebeer University of Antwerp Belgium |
| 4h40 pm | “Citizen science-driven population microbiome mapping: results from the Latvian Microbiome Project” Selected abstract 10: Ilze Elbere |
| 4h55 pm | Invited Talk Patrick Veiga INRAE’s MetaGenoPolis France |
| 5h20 pm | Conference Final Remarks Chairs: Ana Teresa Freitas, Luciana Peixoto |
