Action Leadership position

Action Chair Dr Ana ROTTER, National Institute of Biology, Slovenia
Action Vice Chair Dr Marlen Ines VASQUEZ HADJILYRA, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
WG 1 – Ecology platform development Dr Irem DENIZ CAN, Manisa Celal Bayar University, Turkey
WG 2 – Tools and infrastructure Dr Susana P. GAUDENCIO, UCIBIO FCT- NOVA, Portugal
WG 3 – Use case scenarios Dr Arita DUBNIKA, Riga Technical University, Latvia
WG 4 – Legal aspects, IPR and ethics Xenia THEODOTOU SCHNEIDER, XPRO Consulting, Cyprus
WG 5 – Implementation and outreach Dr Lucie NOVOVESKÁ, MiAlgae, United Kingdom
Grant Holder Scientific Representative Dr Ana ROTTER, National Institute of Biology, Slovenia
Science Communication Coordinator

Dr Katja KLUN*, National Institute of Biology, Slovenia

*Dr Katja KLUN is absent until April 2023. Until April 2023 role of Science Communication Coordinator will be represented by Dr Ana Rotter.
ITC CG Coordinator Dr Dragana DRAKULOVIC, University of Montenegro, Institute of Marine Biology, Montenegro
STSM Coordinator Dr Marija KATARŽYTĖ, Marine Research Institute, Lithuania

Ocean4Biotech members

Full list of Ocean4Biotech members and their affiliation to WGs can be found here.

Ariola Bacu, Albania

Prof. Dr. Ariola Bacu is molecular biologist, she holds a PhD in plant molecular biology-biotechnology, and is working as full professor near the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Tirana, Albania. Her interests are the exploitation of plant genetic diversity and picophytoplankton populations. More.

Michèle Barbier, France

Founder and executive director of the Institute for Science and Ethics, obtained her PhD at the University Pierre and Marie Curie. She is the author of the CIESM Charter on Access and Benefit-sharing to Marine Resources and co-edited the PEGASUS European guidelines for sustainable seaweed aquaculture (2019).

Francesco Bertoni, Switzerland

Prof. Francesco Bertoni is a medical oncologist for training, head of the Lymphoma Genomics group at Institute of Oncology Research in Bellinzona, Switzerland, affiliated with Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). His research topics are the development of novel anti-lymphoma compounds and lymphoma genomics. Publication list.

Atle Bones, Norway

Professor in cell-, molecular biology and genomics. Background from engineering, mathematics and biology. Broad interest in host defense to abiotic & biotic factors. Microalgae, yeast, plants, arthropods and fish. Methods: cell biology, molecular genetics, biochemistry, genomics, computational biology. More.

Sunčica Bosak, Croatia

She is a microbial ecologist with a PhD in Oceanology working as an Assistant Professor at Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Her research focuses on marine phytoplankton and phytobenthos taxonomy and ecology. More

Juris Burlakovs, Latvia

He has PhD in geography with background in geology and environmental science at the University of Latvia. He has focus on remediation of contaminated sites and waste management, works with collaboration networks in Baltic States and Scandinavian countries and is orking with own environmental consultancy. More

Ivana Čabarkapa, Serbia

She is a Biologist with a PhD in Microbiology. She works at the University of Novi Sad, Institute of Food Technology. Her research is focused on food and feed safety. Her interests also encompass chemical characterization as well as antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibiofilm activity of natural biologically active compounds. More

Maria de Fátima Carvalho, Portugal

She is a microbiologist with a PhD in Biotechnology, and is currently principal investigator at Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) of the University of Porto. Among other objectives, she is interested in the bioprospection of marine Actinobacteria for the prodution of bioactive compounds. More

Marta Cegłowska, Poland

Marta Cegłowska is a PhD student and is employed as an assistant at the Institute of Oceanography of Polish Academy of Sciences. Her research is focused on bioactive compounds produced by cyanobacteria.

Mercedes Cueto, Spain

She holds a PhD in natural product chemistry. She works at the Institute of Natural Products and Agrobiology of the CSIC (Spanish National Research Council). Her research interest are marine natural products from macro and micro-organisms, purification, structural elucidation, bioactivity and chemical transformations. More

Thanos Dailianis, Greece

Thanos Dailianis is a biologist and a researcher at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece. His work focuses on the biology of marine invertebrates through integrative approaches and the ecology of marine ecosystems. He has extensive experience in the conduction of field studies and experiments with scientific diving More.

Meltem Conk Dalay, Turkey

She is a Professor of Algal Biotechnology at Ege University, Engineering Faculty, Bioengineering Department, Izmir, Turkey. She focuses on the isolation, cultivation, and valuable chemical ingredients of algae, the effects of culture conditions on growth and biochemical composition of algal biomass. More

Irem Deniz, Turkey

Irem Deniz is a bioengineer with BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in bioengineering. Her research includes bioprocesses, microbial and microalgal bioproducts, microbial enzymes, up-scaling in bioreactors and value-added products. She is enthusiastic about science communication, project management and engineering sciences More.

Ana R. Díaz-Marrero, Spain

Has a PhD in Chemical Sciences at the University of La Laguna (Canary Islands), expert in the field of marine natural products chemistry: structure, chemotaxonomic studies and biomedical applications. Interests: discovery of new bioactive molecules produced by marine-sourced microorganisms. More

Aleksandra Drecun, Serbia

She is the President at Intersection, Center for Science and Innovation, an international action-thank and the Board Director of EU Science Engagement Association. She is an expert in gender, research policy and governance. More

Arita Dubnika, Latvia

Arita Dubnika is a material scientist/chemist with a PhD in chemical engineering at the Riga Technical University in Latvia. Her research studies include development of materials for hard and soft tissue regeneration, as well as exploration of new controlled drug delivery systems. More

Christine Edwards, United Kingdom

She is a Professor in Applied Microbiology, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. She has over 30 years’ experience in biotoxin research with >10 years’ industrial experience. She has pioneered the study, production, characterization and curation of the World’s largest portfolio of cyanotoxins. More.

Ayşegül Erdoğan, Turkey

She has a PhD in Chemistry. She has been working as a researcher and analytical expert at the Chromatography and Spectroscopy Laboratory, EGE MATAL. She has specialized in the field of food chemistry, microalgal biotechnology, analytical chemistry, forensic science, identification of bioactive compounds.

Tufan Eroldoğan Orhan, Turkey

He is a Fish Nutritionist an Cukurova University, Faculty of Fisheries. He has been leading a nutrition team in Department of Aquaculture and has engaged in several research activities funded by both, governmental agencies and private industries with several national and international collaborators. More.

David Ezra, Israel

David Ezra is a plant pathologist working for ARO, Volcani center in Israel. His main research topics are fruit trees fungal diseases identification, study and treatment but also on the isolation and use of secondary metabolites from endophytes, including algae endophytes, in agriculture for the control of plant diseases.

Stefano Fazi, Italy

He is a microbial ecologist at the Water Research Institute of the National Research Council of Italy (IRSA-CNR). His researches mainly focus on the assessment of the diversity of microbial communities by molecular approaches and on the dynamic of microbial biofilms. More

Richard J. FitzGerald, Ireland

He leads the Food Proteins and Peptides Research Group at UL. This group focuses on the extraction, characterisation and valorisation of proteins and peptides from natural sources, including marine sources (fish, shellfish, microalgae and macroalgae), with functional food ingredient potential. More

Laura Gargan, Ireland

She is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Area 52 Research Group at University College Dublin, Ireland. Her primary research interests are in molecular ecology and environmental (e)DNA approaches for assessment and conservation of aquatic habitats and development of eDNA techniques. More

Susana P. Gaudêncio, Portugal

She is a chemist with a PhD in organic chemistry, head of the Blue Biotechnology and Biomedicine Lab, at UCIBIO, FCT-NOVA, Portugal. Her research focus in marine-derived actinomycetes as a source of bioactive and innovative natural products for drug discovery and biotechnological applications. More.

Marija Gligora Udovič, Croatia

She is phycologist with PhD in phytoplankton ecology. She is Associate Professor at University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science. Her research interests have developed around aquatic ecology and microorganisms, with a focus on use of algae in standards and thresholds for impact assessments. She registered an unique collection of diatoms as a Croatian National Diatom Collection.

Efstathia Ioannou, Greece

She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmacy at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. Her research interests focus on the isolation, structure elucidation and biological activity evaluation of natural products from marine macro- and microorganisms. More

Rósa Jónsdóttir, Iceland

Rósa Jónsdóttir, MSc in Food Science is a research group leader at MATIS, Icelandic Food and Biotech R&D. Her main expertise is in utilisation of macro algae, bioactive ingredients, functional ingredients and flavour chemistry. Rósa is one founder and former owner of the company Marinox ehf. and one founder of UNA skincare ehf. were the focus was on utilisation of seaweed in food, nutraceuticals and cosmetics.  More

Katja Klun, Slovenia

She is a chemist with a PhD in environmental protection at the National Institute of Biology in Slovenia. Her research is focused on marine biogeochemistry and recently also in applied research in relation to the use of marine organisms. More.

Jonne Kotta, Estonia

He is an experienced field and an experimental ecologist working on patterns and processes of coastal ecosystems. Focus: invasive species, macrophyte and invertebrate communities, trophic networks, benthic-pelagic coupling and scale-dependent relationships between environmental forcing and biotic patterns.

Zrinka Ljubešić, Croatia

Zrinka Ljubešić is a biological oceanographer at Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. She focuses her research to taxonomy and ecology of marine phytoplankton using highly interdisciplinary approach incorporating traditional taxonomy, molecular methods, marine chemistry, physic and bio-optics. More

Manolis Mandalakis, Greece

He is a chemist at the Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture in Greece. His research is focused on “Bioanalysis and Marine Biotechnology”, including targeted analysis of biomolecules, metabolic phenotyping and biotechnological valorization of marine bioresources. More

Inga Matijošytė, Lithuania

She is a chemist with a PhD in biochemistry and biocatalysis at the Life Sciences Center Vilnius University in Lithuania. Her research focuses on the discovery and engineering of biocatalysts for potential industrial application and development of efficient biocatalytic routes for producing the added value products. More

Hanna Mazur-Marzec, Poland

Hanna Mazur-Marzec is a chemist. Currently, she is employed as professor and head of the Div. Marine Biotechnology at the University of Gdańsk in Poland. Her research is focused on structure, bioactivity and pharmaceutical potential of peptides produced by cyanobacteria.

Søren Laurentius Nielsen, Denmark

Søren Laurentius is an associate professor in plant and algal physiology and –biology at the Department of Science and Environment at Roskilde University, Denmark. His focus is on the utilization of microalgal biomass as part of circular economy and sustainability. More.

Lucie Novoveská, United Kingdom

She is a R&D Manager in MiAlgea (UK). Her interests range from wastewater bioremediation to production of high value compounds from algae. Lucie is an Assistant Editor for journal Applied Phycology. More

Donata Overlinge, Lithuania

Donata Overlinge is a PhD student in Ecology and Environmental Science, at the Marine Research Institute, University of Klaipeda. The main research topics are secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria, and their biotechnological application, also water quality assesment based on cyanotoxins. More

Giuseppe Perale, Switzerland

Giuseppe Perale is a biomedical engineer with a PhD in industrial bioengineering, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Southern Switzerland (USI). His research interests are related to biopolymers for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery. He is also active as entrepreneur.

Slađana Rakita, Serbia

She holds her PhD in Food Engineering and is working as a Research Associate at the Institute of Food Technology, University of Novi Sad. Her research is focused on feed quality, feed techology, feed additives, valorization of food waste into animal feeds. More

Praveen Ramasamy, Denmark

Praveen is a microbiologist, Assistant Professor at Roskilde University, Denmark. His research includes developing processes for microalgal biorefinery. He is passionate about microalgal cell cycles, biomass harvesting and novel bioproduct extraction strategies More.

Céline Rebours, Norway

Dr. Rebours is a senior researcher at Møreforsking Ålesund AS (Norway) and expert in production of low-trophic level organisms at sea and in land-based systems. She has interest in environmental, financial and social assessments of aquaculture and focus on risks to ecosystems and carbon footprint. More.

Thorsten Reinsch, Germany

Dr. Thorsten Reinsch is an agricultural scientist working in the group Grass and Forage Science / Organic Agriculture at the Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Germany. His interest is sustainable agricultural production. He has skills in field research and Life-Cycle-Assessment. More.

Fernando Reyes, Spain

Fernando Reyes leads the Natural Products Chemistry Department at Fundación MEDINA in Spain. His research is focused on the discovery of new bioactive natural products and the development of new strategies for the separation and analysis complex natural product mixtures. More.

Baruch (Buki) Rinkevich, Israel

Professor Baruch (Buki) Rinkevich is a marine biologist and ecologist from the National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, Israel. He is working on marine invertebrates (mainly on corals and ascidians) focusing on developmental biology, allorecognition, aging, hibernation and stem cell biology.

Johan Robbens, Belgium

He is a biotechnologist Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. His research interest is blue biotech- Sustainable exploitation of the Sea- and Food Integrity. Valorisation and exploitation includes application of marine compounds in industry, food, feed and agriculture as well as exploitation of the marine gene pool. More.

Ana Rotter, Slovenia

Ana Rotter is a microbiologist with a PhD in statistics at the National Institute of Biology in Slovenia. Her research includes experimental design and analysis but also visualization of data and network analysis. She is passionate about science communication, project management and applied sciences More.

Eric Röttinger, France

He obtained his PhD in cellular and molecular developmental biology and holds a Research Director and is a team leader at the Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging in Nice (Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS). His interest is to decipher cnidarian cellular, molecular, biochemical and genetic mechanisms. More

Vassilios Roussis, Greece

Vassilios Roussis is the Director of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of Natural Products, Dept. of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His expertise is in marine natural products chemistry and biomedical applications of marine polysaccharides. More.

Vita Rudoviča, Latvia

Expert in archaeological, environmental and pharmaceutical research using analytical chemistry. She performs environmental pollution control by examining elements in beach sediments, water, soil, pharmaceuticals and other materials, e.g., muscle tissues of European eel from lakes in Latvia. More

Jerica Sabotič, Slovenia

She is a microbiologist working at Jožef Stefan Institute. Her research focuses on molecular interactions – protein-protein and protein-glycan interactions. She is passionate about finding new exceptional natural compounds and proteins that affect bacterial biofilm formation and/or human immune system. More

Ivo Safarik, Czech Republic

Ivo Safarik is a professor of biochemistry, head of the Department of Nanobiotechnology at Biology Centre in the Czech Republic. His research is focused on the development of new magnetic (bio)composites and their application in biosciences, biotechnology, analytical chemistry and environmental technology.

Siret Talve, Estonia

She has focused on teaching environmental technology at universities and consulting in the past ten years, before which she specialised in privat companies on project management, evaluation and assessment of life cycle impacts of products. Currently she is Scientific Adviser at the Estonian Ministry of Rural Affairs and member of EU unofficial expert group “Support to Circular Economy Financing” More

Deniz Tasdemir, Germany

She is full professor and Head of the Research Unit Marine Natural Product Chemistry and GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany). She is expert in analytical/natural product chemistry, metabolomics, mass-spectrometry imaging and high throughput bioactivity screening of marine macro- and microorganisms. More

Xenia Theodotou Schneider, Cyprus

Xenia is a business strategist and computer scientist with an MBA from the University of Warwick, UK. Her research focuses on systemic innovation and change management approaches. She is keen on sustainable and ethical blue growth, science communication and responsible innovation. More.

Olivier P. Thomas, Ireland

He finished his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry in 2002 and is now Professor in Marine Biodiscovery at NUI Galway in 2015, leading a research team that focuses on marine natural products. The group has a strong expertise in the purification by HPLC and structure elucidation by NMR and MS. Their work is focused from marine ecology to applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetical or agri-food sectors. More.

Anna Toruńska-Sitarz, Poland

Msc in Oceanography, PhD in Earth Sciences. She works at the Division of Marine Biotechnology, University of Gdańsk. Her main scientific interests: antibacterial compounds from marine organisms, regulation of cyanometabolites production in cyanobacteria and cyanobacterial molecular diversity. More

Jan Tytgat, Belgium

He is Full Professor and Head of the Laboratory Toxicology & Pharmacology at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. His research focusses on drug discovery with the testing of natural compounds on 70 cloned molecular targets (ion channels, receptors). He also runs a forensic toxicology laboratory. More

Giovanna Cristina Varese, Italy

She is a full professor at the University of Torino (Italy) and she is the Head of the Mycotheca Universitatis Taurinensis (MUT). She is a mycologist with a PhD in “Fungal Biology and Biotechnology”. Her research includes the manegement and valorization of a fungal collection of about 6000 fungal strains. More

Marlen I. Vasquez, Cyprus

She is an Environmental Toxicologist and leads the Oikotoxikologia Research Group, CUT. Her research interests: assessing effects of multi-stressors from the gene- to the ecosystem- level. She uses in vitro, model aquatic organisms and molecular methods for in situ bioassessment to identify stressors.

Divna Vuckovic, Serbia

Divna Vuckovic, Vice-president at Intersection, working with science promotion and having extensive experience from ICT industry research. Special focus on Responsible Research and Innovation, particularly gender issues in research, and popularization of STEM careers for young people, especially girls.

Emmanuela Daza Secco, Colombia

Emmanuela is a biologist with a PhD in aquatic sciences working at the Center of Excelence in Marine Sciences in Colombia. Her work includes biomonitoring and bioindication, fundraising, project management and scientific communication. She is passionate about science communication and project management More.

Ernesta Grigalionyte-Bembič, Slovenia

She is a professional associate at National Institute of Biology and PhD student in management programme at the University of Primorska (Slovenia). Her activities are focused on the management of EU funded projects. More

György T. Balogh, Hungary

He is a medicinal chemist with a PhD and in physico-chemictry and pharmacokinetics at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary. His research is focuse on Physico-chemical characterization of lead compounds, drug candidates and natural products. More

Hjorleifur Einarsson, Iceland

He is a professor at the Faculty of Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Akureyri, Iceland. His research includes applied microbiology and biotechnology from underutilized marine biomass. Einarsson is now a board member of three start-up companies in the area of valorisation of aquatic biomass.

Jeronimo Chirivella, Spain

Jeronimo Chirivella is a biologist with a PhD in fish parasites at the University of Valencia in Spain. His professional background is about recirculated  aquaculture systems (RAS), but his research at Academia includes microalgae biomass production and screening of bioactivity for agro and aquafarm uses. He is passionate about science education and project management.  More.

Krzysztof Pyrc, Poland

Krzysztof Pyrc is a virologist with a Ph.D. in medical sciences / infectious diseases. Full Professor in Virology at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. His research mainly focuses on the interphase between the virus and the cell and the development of novel antivirals. More.

Lada Lukić Bilela, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Molecular biologist, full professor in Faculty of Science, University of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her research includes mitochondrial genomics and evolution of marine and freshwater sponges. She is also passionate biospeleologist, interested in bioactive compounds and biopotential of subterranean microbial biofilms, cave-dwellers and marine invertebrates. More.

Leila Ktari, Tunisia

Leila Ktari holds a PhD in Marine Biotechnology. She is specialized in seaweed biotechnology and is currently a researcher in the B3Aqua Lab at INSTM. Her expertise concerns the extraction of bioactive substances with high added value with particular interest for antifouling and antioxidant secondary metabolites.

Leonor Cancela, Portugal

She is a full professor of Molecular Genetics at the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Medicine in the University of Algarve, Portugal, and coordinator of the BioSkel laboratory. Research: molecular pathways associated with skeletal development/maintenance/aging in health and disease using fish as models.

Mohamed Mehiri, France

He is the leader of the Marine Natural Products team within the Institute of Chemistry of Nice (ICN, UMR 7272 CNRS) at the University Côte d’Azur. A PhD in analytical/organic chemistry and expertise in isolation, structural elucidation, synthesis and valorization of high value-added molecules from marine organisms. More

Nelly Georgieva, Bulgaria

Prof. Dr. Nelly Georgieva is a microbiologist and Head of Dept. Biotechnology – University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy – Sofia, Bulgaria. Her research includes synthesis, characterization and antimicrobial activity of hybrid materials.

Nives Novosel, Croatia

She is a PhD student and research assistant at Ruder Boskovic Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. She finished the Faculty of Natural Science, University in Zagreb 2018 as a Master of Environmental Science. Her research interest is related to algal cell behavior under the abiotic influence such as temperature and salinity.

Nadica Ivošević DeNardis, Croatia

She has PhD in chemistry, working as senior research associate at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. Her research interests are: surface and structural characterization of algal cells and design of marine-based plasma membrane vesicles. More.

Alexia Massa-Gallucci, Malta

She is a marine biologist with a PhD in fisheries science.  Her main interests are marine conservation and environmental sustainability. She is currently working as independent marine and fisheries consultant and co-founded Blue EcoTech Ltd. The mission of Blue EcoTech is to provide innovative solutions to valorise different waste sources using applied biotechnologies to develop added value products aimed and protect the marine environment. More.

Viktoria Milkova, Bulgaria

Viktoria Milkova is an Assoc. Prof. in Department of Interfaces and Colloids at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Her expertise is the field of design and characterization of the surface properties and stability of nanoparticles or advanced chitosan-based nanostructures for encapsulation of drugs or (bio)active substances by using mainly the classical theories of colloid science and electrokinetic phenomena in dispersion systems. More.

Evita Strode, Latvia

Evita Strode is acquired PhD in hydrobiology at University of Latvia, Faculty of Biology. Her current research in Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology focuses on the role of biological methods in the assessment of aquatic ecosystem health – how to use bioassay, ecotoxicology and biomarker aproach which allow the detection of biological effects of pollutants as early environmental quality detector.

Todorka Vladkova, Bulgaria

Todorka Vladkova is a chemical engineer with a PhD and DSc in polymeric materials at the University of Chemical Technology and Metallurgy, Sofia, Bulgaria. Her research includes development of advanced biomaterials, antimicrobial composites and coatings as well as and new antimicrobial agents. She is a MC member, expecting to contribute to use case scenarios. More.

Belma Kalamujić Stroil, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belma Kalamujić Stroil is a molecular geneticist with a PhD in population genetics at the Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (INGEB), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Her research includes molecular and population genetics of wild and domesticated species. She is the Head of the Laboratory for Molecular Genetics of Natural resources. More

Ola Öberg, Sweden

He is an SME entrepreneur with background in water management. Now active fish farmer outside Stockholm in the Baltic Sea. His expertise concerns out-of-the-box solutions, currently developing ways of including seaweed as a by-product in fish production, benefitting from its water treatment capacity in brackish water.

Jens Carlsson, Ireland

Jens Carlsson is a population geneticist with a PhD in Biology from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. His research includes developing and deploying genetic methods to address questions in population demographics, biodiversity and detection of rare and invasive species. His is main research is focused on aquatic organisms More.

Mattia Mori, Italy

Mattia Mori is senior researcher in medicinal chemistry at the University of Siena (Italy) and has a PhD in structural biology. His research focuses on the computational design and optimization of small molecules of pharmacological relevance, mostly starting from natural products. More

Bolívar Chalén, Ecuador

Bolívar Chalén is a pharmaceutical chemist with a MSc in applied bioscience at the ESPOL Polytechnic University in Ecuador (South America). His research includes marine natural products isolation and bacteria metabolomic analysis. He is enthusiastic about finding solutions with science for industry problems. More.

Danijela Joksimović, Montenegro

She is a chemist with a PhD in marine chemistry, head of the Laboratory for marine chemistry and oceanography in Institute of marine biology, University of Montenegro. She performs environmental pollution control by examining elements in marine sediments and biota (e.g., muscle tissues mussels and fish and sea grass) as well as anthropogenic influence on the quality and condition of seawater of the Montenegrin coast. More.

Riadh Ben Mansour, Tunisia

Riadh Ben Mansour is an Associated Professor in the department of life sciences in the faculty of sciences of Gafsa, Tunisia. He got his Ph.D. on biological sciences from the faculty of sciences of Sfax, Tunisia. His main research field is the identification of new bioactive compounds from natural origin as well as the implication of oxidative stress in autoimmunity diseases.

Yasmina Oumedjbeur, Algeria

Yasmina Oumejbeur graduated from a state engineer in marine science and a master’s degree in aquaculture from the National High School of Marine Sciences and Coastal Development in Algeria, I am carrying out a fish feed manufacturing project, and I currently work in a shellfish farm (Mediterranean oyster and mussel farming). passionate about social entrepreneurship, project management, marine biodiversity and scuba diving.

Marcela Sánchez, Colombia

Marcela has a Bachelor degree in mathematics teaching and holds a Master degree in intercultural education at Free University of Berlin, Germany. She currently holds the position of CEMarin Administrative director of CEMarin, where her experience in international cooperation and internationalization of higher education, science, and technology are key to achieve CEMarin.

Hocine Lahilah, Algeria

Hocine Lahilah. Is an oceanographer, diving instructor and holder of a state engineering degree in marine sciences at ENSSMAL of Algiers. My research includes on the development of shellfish farming and the control of the marine environment quality.  I am passionate about scientific communication, scuba diving and field work.

Arnheidur Eythórsdóttir, Iceland

Arnheidur is a food scientist with an M.Sc. in biotechnology with a focus on microbiology.  She is an adjunct at the University of Akureyri, Iceland.   Her research work is mainly on marine bacteria and bioactivity, especially antimicrobial activity.  She is interested in applied science and has worked on many smaller projects regarding quality issues in food manufacturing. More.

Robert Marks, Israel

PhD in Chemical Immunology (Weizmann Institute of Science), Postdoc (Cambridge University), and Professor at BGU with research in biosensors, environmental monitoring, water toxicity, discovery of bioactive molecules in sea, bioremediation. More.

Bruno Botta, Italy

Bruno Botta is full professor of organic chemistry, Deputy Provost for the Internationalization and Head of the Department of Chemistry and Technologies of Drug at Sapienza University of Rome. He is author of about 180 publications, including 6 patents, and author and co-author of 10 books. He is Chair of the Action COST Action ‘CM 1407’ Challenging organic syntheses inspired by nature: from natural product chemistry to drug discovery. He has expertise in natural products chemistry and related drug discovery More.

Jalel Labidi, Spain

Jalel Labidi is a chemical engineer with a PhD in chemical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (France). His research is focussed on the development of sustainable  biorefinery processes. He is associate editor of Industrial Crops and Products (Elsevier), Frontiers in Energy Research (Frontiers) and member of the editorial board of Molecules (MDPI) and Polymers (MDPI). More.

Karin Almlöf, Sweden

Karin is a Master Mariner, with specialization in environmental impact from shipping and boat traffic. She is hoping to use and work with algae in the Baltic Sea and Stockholm archipelago for compensation purposes. For example, compensating from loss of aquatic vegetation due to boat traffic. In 2020 focus is on making a local food-product from Ulva intestinalis.

Jenny Rodríguez, Ecuador

Jenny y Rodríguez has a Ph.D. in Fundamental and Applied Biology (University of Aubiere, Clermont Ferrand, France). She works as professor and researcher at the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL, Guayaquil, Ecuador). She has worked in shrimp pathology and immunology. Currently her research involves marine biodiversity and marine biodiscovery. She coordinates the CENAIM-ESPOL marine biodiversity program. She is passionate about everything related to biological sciences and biodiversity.

Teresa S. Catalá, Germany

Teresa S. Catalá is a researcher with a PhD in marine chemistry. Her current research at the ICBM-MPI Bridging Group for Marine Geochemistry in Oldenburg University (Germany) consists on identifying bluebiotechnological modes of action of marine dissolved organic matter. With the combination of marine biochemistry and bluebiotechnology, she is fulfilling one major piece of her scientific career, namely applied sciences and societal application. More.

Maggie Reddy, South Africa

Maggie Reddy has a PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is a seaweed taxonomist interested in marine biodiveristy and biodiscovery research. In general, her research involves applying integrative taxonomy which involves morphology, DNA and (bio)chemistry to study marine organisms with potential application in biotechnology. More.

Francesco Buonocore, Italy

He is a biochemist with a PhD in Genetics at the University of Tuscia (Viterbo) in Italy. His research includes marine biotechnology and fish molecular immunology using techniques ranging from molecular biology to cell biology and biochemistry. One of his last topics is the identification of bioactive molecules from animal sources. More.

Marija Kataržytė, Lithuania

She is a microbiologist with a PhD in biology at the Marine Research Institute of Klaipėda University in Lithuania. Her research includes microbial source tracking in the aquatic environment, bathing water quality assessment (fecal contamination, Vibrio, fungi). She is recently working on biotechnology of oil remediation using fungi from the coastal environment and assessing the role of aquatic vegetation on the pathogenic microorganisms. More.

Andrej Stefanov, North Macedonia

Andrej Stefanov is a professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the International Balkan University, Skopje, North Macedonia. His research interests include the analysis and design of underwater acoustic networks.

Amine Haj Taieb, Tunisia

Amine Haj Taieb is a textile material engineer with a HDR and PhD in textile material. His research includes circular design and sustainability concepts and strategies. He is passionate about science communication, project management and applied sciences.

Sébastien Cambier, Luxembourg

Sébastien Cambier is a molecular biologist with a PhD in ecotoxicology at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology in Luxembourg. His research is principally oriented toward the development of in vitro models in environmental toxicology including the use of molecular biology tools. He is excited about the development of new biotechnology science, basic and applied sciences, and communication.

Esra Imamoglu, Turkey

Esra Imamoglu is Associate Professor at Bioengineering Department, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. Her research interests include bioprocess engineering, optimization and modelling, CFD simulation, biorefineries, biofuels, biomaterials and the production techniques of microalgae. More.

Linda O’Higgins, Ireland

She  is PI in Marine Microbiology and Biotechnology at the Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Ireland. Her research focuses on the ecology, physiology and metabolomics of aquatic algae, the algae-bacteria interactome and more complex marine microbiomes.  Within Ocean4Biotech, Linda is involved in WG1, WG2 and WG3.

Daniela Mihaela Grigore, Romania

She is a Ph.D. student in the Biotechnology field at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Bucharest, and a Young Researcher at the Research and Development Institute for Bovine Balotesti, Romania. Background in food and pharmacologic biotechnology. Main focus on conventional and non-conventional yeast bioproducts and dairy cattle nutrition. More.

Mădălina Ungureanu-Iuga, Romania

Mădălina Ungureanu-Iuga is an engineer in the food industry, with a PhD in food engineering at the “Ştefan cel Mare” University of Suceava in Romania. Her research areas include food experimental design and analysis, but also the valorization of industrial waste to create value-added products. Mădălina`s interests refer to multidisciplinary science, research dissemination and food safety. More.

Slobodan Zlatković, Serbia

Slobodan Zlatković is Senior Environmental Researcher in the field of hydrobiology, management and monitoring of freshwater ecosystems in the Agency for giving ecological advices ’’Akvatorija’’ in Belgrade, Serbia. He is a member of Technical Commission of Ministry of Environmental Protection for environmental impact assessment studies of projects and activities on environment and, in particular, on water ecosystems, with 73 studies to date. He is participant in seven COST Actions and is adhoc peer-reviewer and expert for COST actions. More.

Chiara Lauritano, Italy

Chiara Lauritano is Researcher at Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Italy). Her research includes bioactivity screening of marine organism extracts/compounds for possible activities for human health. She is also interested in genome mining and metabolic pathway analyses. More.

Bahar A. Guler, Turkey

Bahar A. Guler is a PhD student in Bioengineering at Ege University, Turkey. Her research includes microalgal biotechnology, bioprocess engineering, modelling, CFD simulation, and biomaterials.

Azza Silotry Naik, Ireland

Dr Azza Silotry Naik received M. Tech in Bioprocess technology (2009) from UICT (now ICT), Mumbai, India with DBT fellowship and Ph.D. in Food Biotechnology (2015) from ICT with UGC-SAP fellowship. Her research interest has mainly been isolation and purification of bioactive molecules & development of functional ingredients from plant & marine biomass with special focus on valorisation of by-products. More.

Patrícia Rijo, Portugal

Patrícia Rijo is a medicinal chemist with a PhD in Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Chemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Her research includes extraction, isolation, characterization and design of natural products from different natural sources. More.

Eleni Christoforou, Cyprus

Eleni Christoforou is marine biologists with a PhD and is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Cyprus University of Technology. Her research is focused on aquatic invertebrated and phytoplankton with experience in sampling, experimetal design, laboratory work and statistical analysis. She also has a BA in Art which is used in science illustration and science communication.

Sónia Ventura, Portugal

Sónia Ventura has a graduation and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Aveiro in Portugal. Her research includes the development of downstream processes to recover high-added value compounds from raw materials and residues by using alternative solvents. She works specially to create commercial value under the guidelines of Circular Economy and Marine Biorefinery. More.