Editorial Board

Dr. Jackson is a Senior Research Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service at the U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Athens, Georgia, USA. She has 32 years of experience as a microbiologist with research focusing on molecular mechanisms and genetics of antimicrobial resistance in foodborne and commensal bacteria in animals, food products, and the environment. She has led and participated in international collaborations on antimicrobial resistance and genomic analysis of Enterococcus from poultry sources with Canada and E. coli from food animals and humans from Nigeria, Egypt, and Japan. Her collaborative studies on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from eggs and the poultry environment of Pakistan has led to her participation in a global partnership with researchers from Pakistan, Australia, and Germany applying whole-genome sequencing to map epidemic strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus.

Research interests: antimicrobial resistance, antibiotics, Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli, genomics, alternatives to antibiotics

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8480-4556

Dr Thomas Jeffries is Senior Lecturer in Microbiology at Western Sydney University.   His research focuses on using next-generation sequencing and ecological statistics to understand microbial community dynamics in eclectic habitats ranging from the open ocean to the human microbiome.  He achieved his PhD from Flinders University (Australia) in 2012 and conducted postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Technology Sydney and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment.  In all of these projects he utilized metagenomics to study aquatic and soil habitats.  Since forming his own research group his focus has been split between human and medical microbiomes (diabetic foot infections, gut microbiome and diet) and terrestrial habitats (dryland soils, acid mine drainage).  Dr Jeffries has been highly active in sharing his expertise in bioinformatics and statistics with ECR’s and Grad. students through running training workshops in countries including Australia, China, Singapore and Thailand.   He has served on the editorial board of Frontiers in Microbiology and MDPI Microorganisms, and recently was honored to be appointed as a Senior Editor for Letters in Applied Microbiology.    Thomas’s H-index is 30, having published over 60 peer-reviewed papers and has been cited over 4000 times.  He is the Secretary of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM, NSW-ACT), Local Organising Committee Chair for AusME2024  and was the Chair of Joint Microbiology Seminars (JAMS.org.au) for five years.  He is passionate about mentoring ECR’s and editorial board members to ensure robust and equitable scientific publishing in the future and is passionate about the history of microbiology and it’s influence on society.

Research interests: Microbial Ecology, Marine Microbiology, Soil Microbiology, the Human Microbiome, Metagenomics, Amplicon Sequencing, Next-generation Sequencing, Bioinformatics, Ecological Statistics

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6479-0353

Full Professor, Head Researcher of Laboratory of Microbial Processes in Foods, Department of Food Engineering, Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil (2011 to date). Graduated in Biological Sciences (2001), Master in Biotechnology (2004), Specialist in Biology Applied to Health (2005), PhD in Food Science (2010), and Post-doctor in Molecular Sciences (2011). Current Coordinator of the Food Science area in Brazil (2022-2026). Researcher of the National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development Level 1A. Major research focus on i) Probiotics, posbiotics and food microbiota; ii) Evaluation of food antimicrobials (natural bioactives and emerging technologies); iii) Persistence of bacteria and viruses in foods and their response to stressing factors, iii) Safety/risk assessment of microbiological hazards in foods. Prof. Magnani mentored more than 40 undergraduate students, 30 master students, 19 PhD students and 3 postdocs and has published more than 230 journal publications in the last decade.

Research interests: food microbiology; probiotics; food antimicrobials

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7771-0479

Fernanda Mozzi is a Senior Scientist at CERELA (Reference Center for Lactobacilli), CONICET (National Council of Scientific and Technological Research) in Argentina. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the National University of Tucumán, Argentina. She has published more than 70 scientific articles in international journals and many book chapters in her area of ​​expertise: biotechnology of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) (production of exopolysaccharides, mannitol, and seleno-proteins), functional fermented foods, and diversity of LAB from tropical fruits and their functional properties. She edited 2 books about the Biotechnology of LAB and their Novel Applications and has served on a number of Editorial Boards. She served as a main organizer of international symposia on LAB in Argentina and was awarded the President´s Fund Award from AMI (formerly SfAM) in 2013.  

Research interests: fermented foods; functional foods and beverages; lactic acid bacteria; nutraceuticals; biotransformation of selenium; microbial diversity 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2661-7661

Alexander H. Rickard is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan (USA). He earned his PhD in microbiology from the University of Manchester (UK) in 2001 and completed his postdoctoral studies at the University of Manchester and the National Institutes of Health (USA). He has a broad interest in microbiology with a focus on the development and control of microbial biofilms. He maintains an active research group and has published numerous research and review papers.

Research interests: biofilms; antimicrobials; in vitro models; inter-species bacterial interactions

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5915-4176

Dr. Khaled El-Tarabily is a professor in the Biology Department, College of Science, United Arab Emirates University. He specializes in Environmental Microbiology and Plant Pathology. He obtained his PhD from Murdoch University, Australia in 1997. His research activities cover a number of topics including the use of beneficial microorganisms as biological fertilizers and as biological control agents to reduce the dependence on agrochemicals in the field of agriculture. He has authored or coauthored over 150 scientific papers and represented the UAE University at 135 international and local conferences. He has also supervised 35 Master students, and 7 PhD. students. Dr El-Tarabily is also an Associate Editor for a number of international journals and was awarded Rashid Bin Humaid Award for Culture and Science in 2017, 2019, 2020. Dr. El-Tarabily also serves the UAE community by providing scientific consultancy to many sectors within the UAE.

Research interests: plant disease control; soil-borne plant pathogenic fungi; biological control of plant diseases; plant-microbe interactions; actinobacteria; plant growth promotion, and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR); organic farming

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8189-7088

Audrey is a postdoctoral fellow in Microbiology within the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Bioinformatics at the University Laval, Québec, Canada. She was awarded her MSc in Applied Microbiology from Cadi Ayyad University and her PhD in functional and molecular biology from Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, Côte d’Ivoire. Her actual research is focused on the characterization of new staphylococcal phages and the development of new phage combinations to counter Staphylococcus species involved in goat mastitis infections. Research interests: staphylococcal phages; antimicrobial peptides; antimicrobial resistance; environmental microbiology; tropical neglected diseases.

Research interests: bacteriophages; antimicrobial peptides; antimicrobial resistance; environmental microbiology; tropical neglected diseases

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2868-8172

Terry is a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences (Clinical Microbiology) at The Open University, UK. He was awarded his PhD on the virulence of Clostridioides difficile, in 2019 from the University of Nottingham, UK. His research focuses on the application of engineering biology principles, to develop alternative antimicrobial agents for combatting the pathogenic clostridia. Terry researches the function and genetic regulation of clostridial toxins, in order to direct the development of anti-virulence strategies thereto. He also conducts research into the genetic engineering of bacteriophages, to enhance their potential as therapeutic agents.

Research interests: clinical microbiology; bacterial pathogenesis; anaerobes; bacteriophages, engineering biology; microbial biotechnology.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7176-6917

Racheal is a lecturer and researcher in the Department of Biological Sciences at Ajayi Crowther University Oyo, Nigeria. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Food/Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology in 2018, which focused on the biological evaluation of exopolysaccharides obtained from Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from fermented Foods. Her research focuses on investigating the probiotic potential of microorganisms in fermented foods and their ability to improve the immune system. She have over 12 publications in journal articles and have presented her research results both in oral and postal presentation. She has taught and mentored both undergraduate and postgraduate students in food and Industrial Microbiology. She also won a grant worth $2000 at the Copenhagen Bioscience Conference (Microbial Foods), Denmark, in 2022. She was awarded a registration grant to attend the Federation of European Society 2023 (FEMS2023) congress in Hamburg, Germany in the area of postal presentation.  

Research interests: Probiotics, prebiotics, lactic acid bacteria, industrial microbiology, food microbiology, nanoparticles, fermentation, food safety, novel antimicrobials, and biotechnology

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5714-3550

Delveen works as a lecturer in the Department of Biology, College of Science, at the University of Duhok since 2006. She received her BSc in Biology in 2003 and her MSc in Microbiology in 2006 from the University of Mosul/Iraq, after which she began working at the University of Duhok. In 2017, She received her PhD in Microbiology and Microbial Genetics from Nottingham University in the United Kingdom.  Her MSc thesis focused on the isolation and identification of bacteria that cause bacteremia, as well as their susceptibility to antimicrobials in leukemic patients. During her PhD, she began studying multi-drug resistance and ESBL-producing E. coli. The study began with phenotypic evaluation of the selected isolates and progressed to molecular characterization of several resistance genes. The study concluded with whole genome sequencing for some selected strains and an examination of the genetic/genomic environment around -lactamase genes, as well as an examination of some additional AMR genes, which revealed that these genes relate to transposable genetic elements.  Her research focuses on understanding how ancient and novel antimicrobial treatments kill bacteria, as well as how bacteria become resistant to them, including the co-selection problem and how those genes can be transferred by mobile genetics elements.

Research interests: Antimicrobial resistance, Bacterial Infections, Bioinformatics, Molecular Genetics, E. coli.

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2914-6003

Rahul is a microbiologist turned plant biologist. He obtained his PhD in 2018 from Kumaun University, India where he studied psychrotolerant Pseudomonads from Indian Himalayas for bioprospecting cold active lipases and promotion of mountain agroecosystems. He was then the CSIR-Nehru Science Postdoctoral fellow (2019-2022) at CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, where he explored the role of microbial endophytes isolated from high-altitude medicinal plant Arnebia euchroma in abiotic stress mitigation using model plant systems. At the University of Amsterdam and within the MiCRop (Microbial imprinting for crop resilience) consortium,  as a Postdoc researcher (2022 onwards) he aims to understand how microbiome in plant rhizosphere communicate with the roots and respond under environmental stress to benefit plant partners. He is investigating stress responsive chemical signals/metabolites secreted in the root exudates leading to recruitment of specific bacteria in the rhizosphere of various crop plants and utilizing different -omics approaches. 

Research interests: Plant-microbiome, Agriculture microbiology, PGPRs, Endophytes, Microbial Biotechnology

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7554-6599

Andrew is a research fellow at the National University of Singapore and is affiliated to the National University of Singapore Environmental Research Institute (NERI) and Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Science and Engineering (SCELSE). He was awarded his PhD in 2019 from the University of Queensland, Australia. His research interest is in nitrogen and carbon cycling focussed on organo-mineral-microbes interaction and the roles microbes play in greenhouse gas emissions. 

Research interests: Nitrogen and carbon cycling, organo-mineral-microbe interaction, bioremediation, environmental microbiology, environmental engineering

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1384-5224

Vuong is currently a postdoc researcher at the Section of Microbiology, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, working on conjugative plasmid diversity and the interaction between plasmids and bacteriophage. He obtained his BSc from the University of Nottingham, UK, and his PhD in Biochemistry from Massey University, New Zealand. His PhD research involved exploring the synergistic interaction between antimicrobial agents for effcicient antibacterial therapies and characterizing the genetic/molecular mechanism of antibiotic resistance. Before joining the University of Copenhagen, he also took a research officer role in the same PhD lab to work on SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic assay development based on filamentous phage nanotechnology.

Research interests: antibiotic resistance, plasmid biology, bacteriophage, phage nanotechnology

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9576-5246

Elizabeth is a research microbiologist in the Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research unit at the U.S. National Poultry Research Center of the USDA Agricultural Research Service. She received her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Georgia in 2019 and completed her postdoc at USDA-ARS. Her research is focused on genomic and phenotypic characterization of Salmonella and Campylobacter strains which are persistent throughout poultry processing in order to develop interventions to prevent contamination of poultry meat products.

Research interests: Salmonella, Campylobacter, Food Safety, Genomics, Antimicrobial resistance

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7503-514X

Ran is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He obtained his Bachelors from Peking University in China (2013), Master (2015) and PhD (2020) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on microorganisms in engineered (e.g., wastewater treatment plants) and natural ecosystems (e.g., sediments) - how they evolve and diversify, how they interact with each other, how they influence the functionality of the ecosystem, and how we can harness their potential for sustainable development. 

Research interests: environmental biotechnology, microbial ecology, anaerobes, archaea, methanogenesis

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6464-6519

Romy holds an agriculture engineering degree from the Lebanese University and a master’s degree in sustainable agriculture from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (Greece) where she developed a passion for sustainable plant health practices and soil microbes. She then obtained a Ph.D. in plant-microbe interactions, studying factors impacting arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plants. After her Ph.D., she undertook a postdoctoral research project focussed on plants physiology and plant biochemistry. She is currently a Lecturer and scientist at Lincoln University, NZ. Her research primarily revolves around the utilization of beneficial microbes as sustainable strategies for enhancing plant health and growth. She focuses on understanding the various abiotic and biotic factors that influence these microbes and their effects on plant growth parameters, as well as their role in inducing resistance against pests and diseases. Furthermore, her work explores the impact of management practices on plant physiology and the accumulation of primary and secondary metabolites in the bio-compartments of plants. 

Research interests: Applied microbiology, microbial ecology, plant microbe interactions, soil microbiology, mycorrhizal fungi mycology  

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5788-4327

Sanjana is a Microbiologist with experience in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Global Health Security and Public Health Policy. She is currently working at Georgetown University with a focus on addressing HIV/AIDS and other pandemic threats. She has also worked at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the Office of Policy, Legislation and International Affairs, Office of the Commissioner on national and international public health issues.
Sanjana is interested in working on transboundary issues such as antimicrobial resistance, neglected diseases, equitable access to essential medical countermeasures and pandemic preparedness with the overall goal of providing policy makers and decision makers with evidence to prevent, detect and respond to public health issues.
Sanjana’s doctorate examined antimicrobial resistance in foodborne pathogens using clinical microbiology, epidemiology, and genomic methods. She holds a master's degree in Microbiology from University of Delhi, India and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from Michigan State University, USA.

Research interests: Antimicrobial Resistance, Epidemiology, Foodborne illnesses, Public Health Policy, Pandemic Preparedness

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6039-9506

Thomas is a pharmacist and a dedicated researcher in applied microbiology with over ten years of experience in academia and industry. This work is characterized by a unique blend of clinical knowledge and innovative research, tackling some of the most pressing challenges in the field. Thomas’ research has led to significant advancements in understanding bacterial biofilms, antibiotic resistance, the potential of cold plasma in microbiology, and Thomas is currently exploring the potential of drug discovery in extreme environments. Thomas has published widely in respected international journals, spoken at several conferences, and continues to push the boundaries of microbial science. Thomas's work is not only confined to the laboratory but extends to fostering collaborations with other researchers and institutions. His commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion is evident in his service on the EDI Committee at Queen’s University Belfast. Beyond research, Thomas is a passionate educator and mentor, having supervised and trained students at various academic levels, and served as a STEM ambassador. 

Research interests: Bacterial Biofilms; Antibiotic Resistance; Cold Plasma; Drug Discovery; Extreme Environments; Archaea  

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8125-2303

Silvani is a Professor of Food Microbiology and Functional Foods at the Department of Food Science and Technology at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. She graduated in Food Technology (2012), and holds a master's degree (2014), a PhD (2019), and a post-doctorate (2019) in Food Science. She teaches undergraduate courses in Food Science and Technology, Food Engineering, Pharmacy, and Nutrition. Her major research focus is on food science and technology, with an emphasis on food microbiology and technology of animal-origin products, including probiotic bacteria, molecular methods in food microbiology, technology of dairy products, artisanal cheeses, food digestibility, antioxidants, and natural antimicrobials.

Research interests: Probiotics, Food Microbiology, Food safety, One health

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0266-5885

Min is a Research Scientist at the Quadram Institute. She has a BSc (Hons) in Food Science (Curtin University, Australia) and experience working at a public health research institute in Singapore. She has recently completed a PhD in Microbiology (Teagasc and University College Cork, Ireland), which focused on leveraging community-based sequencing approaches to characterise the dairy microbiome. Her research interests include food microbiology, food safety, next generation sequencing, metagenomics, and one health research. 

Research interests: food microbiology, metagenomics, food safety, high-throughput sequencing, epidemiology, microbial genomics, one health, antimicrobial resistance, dairy microbiome 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0410-4611

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1743-6364

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1967-9397

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8361-6390

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9887-6734

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1519-1925

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0811-1229

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5668-7855

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7958-9983

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2639-264X

[email protected]

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-9739

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6232-7680

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1917-0494

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8636-3413

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2829-7814