NEWS

France (Paris)

INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) is Europe’s top agricultural research institute and the world’s number two centre for the agricultural sciences INRA is under the authority of the French Ministry of Research and of the French Ministry of Agriculture. Because of the broad range of activities that INRA has pursued since its inception in 1946, the institute has amassed a large amount of fundamental scientific knowledge and developed numerous skills. Its main specialised fields of study are: agronomy, animal production and health, soil sciences, plant breeding and protection, and forestry sciences. The Micalis Institute is a mixed research unit associating INRA and AgroParisTech. It brings together 125 scientists and more than 120 post-docs, PhD and master students. The Micalis Institute is part of the University of Paris Saclay and member of “laboratoire d’Excellence” (Labex). It focuses on three closely linked research areas: (i) Emergence and control of opportunistic pathogen microorganisms, (ii) Microbial ecosystem and food-microbiota-host functional interactions and (iii) Systems and synthetic microbiology.

Key people

Dr Jasmina Vidic: WP3 Leader, jasmina.vidic@inra.fr

Contact person

Dr Jasmina Vidic: WP3 Leader, jasmina.vidic@inra.fr

France (Paris)

Eden Microfluidics, France is a recently created start-up company installed in Paris and member of the NBIC Valley consortium developing and commercializing advanced polymers solutions and low-cost and ultra-compact microfabrication systems for microfluidic research and industry. The IP protected key technology of Eden Microfluidics is the result of nearly a decade of research activities based on nanoblocks chemistry and polymers formulation for the advent of microfluidic applications. Extending our panel of new materials for microfluidic technology, Eden Microfluidics is developing intense R&D activities for new materials dedicated for high-demanding applications, for example: polymers with tunable mechanical properties and others fluoro-elastomers materials for organ-on-chip and microfluidic applications dealing with complex liquid systems (oils, corrosives solutions). On another side, in order to diffuse microfluidic technology in an ever-growing landscape, we are developing and commercializing simple, low-cost and easy to use microfabrication units that can be deployed in every lab to almost any public. The key matter of our vision there, is to propose compact and press-bottom like systems able to fabricate microfluidic systems everywhere.

Key people

Dr Emmanuel Roy: emmanuel.roy@eden-microfluidics.com

Dr. Constance Porrini: constance.porrini@eden-microfluidics.com

Contact person

Dr. Constance Porrini: constance.porrini@eden-microfluidics.com

France (Evry)

Anova-Plus a privately-held biotech company located in Evry, on the Genopole Campus, near Paris. The company develops innovative methods for on-site diagnostic of plant genotypes and pathogen strains showing fungicide, herbicide and insecticide chemical family resistances or/and producing mycotoxins. Since its creation in 2012, Anova-Plus is committed to transfer cutting edge genomics and genetics lab technologies into simple, fast and non-expensive tools adapted to diagnostic and identification of plant and pathogen in mutations resource-limited locations. Our motivation is to provide new on-site tools facilitating and accelerating decision-making processes at all levels of diagnostic and detection to improve crop management. In summary, our kit tools are dedicated to limit the spread of plant and pathogen pesticide resistances affecting agricultural and food industry whereby limiting their environmental impact by promoting a more adapted and targeted use of phytosanitary products and agronomic itineraries.

Key people

Carole Bloës: carole.bloes@anova-plus.com

Contact person

Carole Bloës: carole.bloes@anova-plus.com

Portugal (Lisbon)

INESC Microsistemas e Nanotecnologias is a private, non-profit research and development center with 20 years of experience in the design, operation, maintenance, and development of a micro- and nanofabrication infrastructure whose core research activities are in the areas of nanoelectronics, information technology, biochips/biosensors and biomedical devices. INESC MN mission is: leading edge research and development in strategic technological areas of micro- and nanotechnologies and the application of these technologies to electronic, biological and biomedical devices; providing advanced training of young scientists and engineers at the university, post-graduate and post-doctoral levels in micro- and nanotechnologies and transfer of technology to both Portuguese and international industries through collaborative research, contract research, prototyping and consulting.

Key people

Prof. Dr Susana Cardoso Freitas: WP2 Leader, scardoso@inesc-mn.pt

Contact person

Prof. Dr Susana Cardoso Freitas: WP2 Leader, scardoso@inesc-mn.pt

Netherlands (Wageningen)

Within the AgroFoodScienceGroup, the laboratory of BioNanoTechnology is operating at the interfaces of nanotechnology, microtechnology and biology, applying fundamental aspects of nanomaterials with state-of-the-art applications in theranostics, sensors and microfluidic devices. In particular, creative open technology and DIY form the basis of the research mission, wit strong links to biomedical applications as well as to agriculture & food. Optical and magnetic detection are main expertise with luminescent monolayers sensors as well as miniaturized Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging and spectroscopy, with home- built micro and nanoliter devices. The goals of the department of Plant Research, organized in seven independent business units, is to generate, transfer and implement knowledge about the plant as green basis for a healthy life. The central objective is to develop sustainable and socially desirable agricultural production, comprising the full range from molecules via cells, organs, plant and crops to complete agro-systems We have significant experience in the development of diagnostic methods for a large number of plant pathogenic organisms, both quarantine and non-quarantine diseases and pests, developing of diagnostic tests and products that can reveal and monitor plant diseases and tools such as biological control for integrated crop protection

Key people

Prof. dr. Aldrik Velders: aldrik.velders@wur.nl

Dr. Vittorio Saggiomo: vittorio.saggiomo@wur.nl

Contact person

Prof. dr. Aldrik Velders: aldrik.velders@wur.nls

Ben-Gurion University (BGU)

•is a world-renowned institution of research and higher education that influences people’s lives in the Negev, throughout Israel, and around the world. With campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer, and Eilat, BGU is truly an oasis of innovation, conducting cutting-edge research, leading the way to meaningful scientific breakthroughs. BGU attracts outstanding students from all over Israel and around the world. Students come to BGU for both the exceptional academic opportunities and for the vibrant campus atmosphere. The main BGU campus is located in Beer-Sheva, a multicultural city, hosting over 25,000 students.>

Key people

Prof. dr Robert Marks: rsmarks@bgu.ac.il
Prof. dr Ariel Kushmaro: arielkus@bgu.ac.il
Prof. dr Alina Karabchevsky: alinak@bgu.ac.il

Contact person

Prof. Ariel Kushmaro: arielkus@bgu.ac.il

Serbia (Novi Sad)

Nano and microelectronics group is a research unit at the Biosense institute that focuses on the development of state-of-the-art sensors for applications in agriculture, food, bio-medicine and environmental monitoring, including electronic, microwave, optical, magnetic, biological and chemical sensors of various parameters related to plants, soil, presence of toxins, pesticides etc. BioSense also works on cellular agriculture, application of tissue engineering for food production, by focusing on optimizing procedures for generating cellular products, through development of sensors for monitoring of key bioprocess parameters.

Key people

Dr Ivana Gadjanski: Project Coordinator, igadjanski@biosense.rs

Dr Vasa Radonic: Risk Manager, vasarad@biosense.rs

Dr Marko Radovic: WP5 Leader, marrad@biosense.rs

Dr Nikola Knezevic: WP6 Leader, nknezevic@biosense.rs

Contact persons

Dr Ljiljana Janjusevic ljiljana.janjusevic@biosense.rs

Dr Ljiljana Sasic Zoric ljsasic@biosense.rs

UNSPMF (Serbia)
INSTITUTIONAL PROFILE

• Official name in English: University of Novi Sad Faculty of Sciences
• Official short name (acronym) in English: UNSPMF
• Legal Representative and authorized signatory: Prof. Milica Pavkov Hrvojevic, Dean

The University of Novi Sad Faculty of Sciences was founded in 1969 and has been the country’s strong base of science and teaching ever since. It is a public, governmental, and non-for-profit institution, fully committed to education, teaching and research. Faculty of Sciences is comprised of five departments which conduct teaching and research in a wide range of fields: chemistry, biochemistry, environmental protection, biology, ecology, physics, astronomy, computer science, mathematics, geography, and tourism. The departments serve as unique inter-disciplinary hubs, which facilitate optimal use of modern teaching and scientific equipment. Committed and competent staff across the departments, make the UNSPMF recognised for its excellence, responsible research and commitment to social engagement, science promotion and creating educated and open-minded young experts.

The Faculty employs 615 staff and educates around 6000 students. The Faculty’s mission is to create the state-of-the-art knowledge through education and research, to safeguard research integrity, to facilitate career development of its staff, and to attract external funding to achieve full integration into the European Research and Higher Education Area. The Faculty developed the internal strategy on enhancing the educational and research processes, quality assurance mechanisms, internationalization, which heavily rely on capacity building, interactive networking, international scientific projects, academic mobility at all levels, and visibility on a global scale. The Faculty is strategically oriented to the EU and other available external funding which serve to unlock its potential and fully employ its excellence (Horizon Europe; IPA Interreg Cross-border and Transnational Cooperation Programs; Erasmus Plus; bilateral collaboration). The goal is to internationalize education and research, boost human resources and capacity building, and increase the overall institutional excellence. UNSPMF has been acknowledged and recognized by the European Commission’s Innovation Radar as an innovator in the category of ADMM Machine Learning Algorithms, which is market ready, and is the result of the Horizon 2020 project called I-BiDaaS.

As a member faculty of the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences is committed to principles of The European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers, which states the institutional commitment to providing the best supporting working conditions and services to researchers who wish to pursue research careers in Serbia.

Overview of the international projects at UNSPMF is available on: https://www.pmf.uns.ac.rs/en/research/projects/

Key people

Prof. dr. Jelica Simeunović: jelica.simeunovic@dbe.uns.ac.rs
Gordana Vlahović: gordanav@uns.ac.rs

Contact person

Prof. dr. Jelica Simeunović: jelica.simeunovic@dbe.uns.ac.rs

Russia (Moscow)

is internationally recognized for the fundamental and applied research in various fields of physics, which produced many pioneering methods and devices for medicine, ecology, and industry. The top priority of the National Science Center is nanophysics and nanotechnology. The key research areas of the Biophotonics Laboratory include label-free methods of registration of biochemical reactions, development of highly sensitive optical and magnetic biosensors for medicine, environment monitoring, food and feed control, investigation of new magnetic materials and effects, etc.

Key people

Dr. Petr Nikitin: gpiru1@gmail.com

Contact person

Dr. Petr Nikitin: gpiru1@gmail.com

Serbia (Belgrade)

EFU was founded to transfer experimental results from the field of mushroom-science and production-technology into industry: increasing productivity, profitability and sustainability for small- and medium-sized mushroom producers. The company is dedicated to actualizing the unique potential of fungi to be a key enabler of the circular economy in all local communities regardless of geography/economic development. As its primary activity, the company produces organic champignon and oyster mushrooms (the only certified producer in Serbia), which it processes into a dehydrated ‘healthy quick-meal’ product using innovative and patented drying technology. The product is sold in Serbia and the EU and available for international orders online. Moreover, the company offers consulting and educational services with a portfolio of customers across six continents. EFU’s consultancy and educational services result from a strong focus on market-driven R&D validated in an industrial setting and the extensive experience of the team. EFU was recognized as Serbia’s most innovative company in 2014 with the AUREA prize, and recognized as a promoter of global sustainable business by The Blue Economy.

Key people

MSc Ivanka Milenkovic: ekofungi@gmail.com

Contact person

MSc Ivanka Milenkovic: ekofungi@gmail.com

Israel (Neveh Shalom)

PhotonicSys with its unique technology specializes in the development of proprietary miniature optics and photonics based instruments and systems for the rapid detection of small (molecules, viruses) and large (bacteria, cells) entities in solutions and in gas forms. Our devices can be standalone or integrated into other systems such as optical microscopes, fluorescence and Raman systems. Being miniature these devices can be positioned under a microscope or a spectrometer to probe both concentration, refractive index, fluorescence, Raman, surface shape or other spectroscopic signals. The specially developed plasmonic substrates allow small and large bioentities to be detected. The miniature device can be easily integrated into other instruments so that several measurement modes can be combined with SPR measurement: Miniature Design, binding kinetics analysis, Friendly GUI, and integration with other inspection equipment. Furthermore, Photonicsys special self-referenced substrates allow detecting gases and liquids using the same substrate and without modifications to the system.

Key people

Prof. Dr Ibrahim Abdulhalim: WP4 Leader, abdulhlm@bgu.ac.il

Contact person

Prof. Dr Ibrahim Abdulhalim: WP4 Leader, abdulhlm@bgu.ac.il

China (Xian)

Xi’an Jiaotong is a C-9 League University, the only such elite university in the western area of China. XJTU Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center (BEBC) was found in 2011 and well-equipped for advancing human health through academic excellence in education and research. BEBC aims at advancing human health through academic excellence in education and research that integrates engineering, science biology and medicine. We create knowledge, and generate cost- effective preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic innovations.

Key people

Prof. Dr. Feng Xu: fengxu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Contact person

Prof. Dr. Feng Xu: fengxu@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

USA (Honolulu)

Diagenetix, Inc. was co-founded by researchers at the University of Hawaii. Our mission is to help make molecular diagnostics and DNA amplification methodologies more accessible and applicable for students, researchers, scientists, government, and businesses. By doing so and with our customers, we hope to help create solutions and move science forward. Diagenetix excels at working near the crossroads of research and applied science, helping customers and collaborators develop the right detection solution for their needs. Main Diagenetix product is the Bioranger – a handheld biology lab, engineered to detect any gene-marker, leveraging Loop Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) and our patent pending Assimilating Probe technology. It is currently being used by food producers and varying federal agencies for on-site detection of microbial contamination and diseases.

Key people

Dr Ryo Kubota: rkubota@diagenetix.com

Dr. Daniel Jenkins: danielje@hawaii.edu

Contact person

Dr Ryo Kubota: rkubota@diagenetix.com

USA (New York)

The research in the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia University in the City of New York, directed by Gordana Vunjak Novakovic, is focused on tissue engineering approaches to improving human health. The Lab investigates innovative technologies for engineering human tissues – including bone, heart, and lung – by the integrated use of stem cells, biomaterial scaffolds, and bioreactors. The long-term goals are to develop personalized treatment modalities for regenerative medicine, tissue models for stem cell research, and microfluidic “organs-on-a-chip” platforms for use in precision medicine.

Key people

Dr Gordana Vunjak Novakovic: gv2131@columbia.edu

Contact person

Dr Gordana Vunjak Novakovic: gv2131@columbia.edu

graduated in Technological Physics Engineering (IST, 1996) and holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics (IST, 2002).

In 2002 she was a “Co-op Pre-Professional Engineer” at IBM, T.J.Watson Research Center (USA). After, she became a researcher at INESC-MN, and is the co-leader of the Magnetics & Spintronics group since 2006. Her research interests include advanced thin films for nanoelectronics and magnetic sensors for challenging applications.She was one of the team members awarded as 2nd finalist for the EU Descartes Prize for Research in 2004 for the work in magnetic memories for the future nanoelectronics. Since then she coordinated and participated as principal researcher in several EU and national projects, with a strong collaboration between INESC-MN and the industry for advanced materials, devices and integrated systems for robotics, biomedical and industrial applications.

She is one of the Directors at INESC-MN and an Associated Professor at the Physics Department (IST) since 2015, and is responsible for student coordination and educational activities related with nanoelectronics, microfabrication and spintronics. She was appointed Coordinator for the Educational Activities of the IEEE Portugal section in 2015.

Susana Cardoso de Freitas was a recipient of the Honorable Mention in Scientific Awards ULisboa/Santander in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and an award by the Magnetic Society of Japan in 2014. In 2018 she was selected as one of “100 Women in Science” by the Portuguese Agency of Science and Technology “Ciência Viva”. In 2019 she was Elected Associate Member Delegate to the European Physics Society (EPS) Council.

She has been invited for several international conferences and is co-author of over 290 publications and 20 chapter books. Her activity includes intensive collaborations with industrial partners for technology transfer related with sensors and 3 patents. Since 2019 she is one of the “Ambassador for the Innovation” group at IST.

is University Professor, the highest academic rank at Columbia University that is reserved for only a few professors and the first engineer in the history of Columbia to receive this highest distinction. She is also the Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Sciences, and serving on faculty in the Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, College of Dental Medicine, and Center for Human Development. She directs the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering and the national Tissue Engineering Resource Center. 

The focus of her research is on engineering functional human tissues for regenerative medicine and studies of development and disease. Gordana published 3 books and over 450 articles (including those in Nature, Cell, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Biomedical Engineering, Nature Communications, Nature Protocols, PNAS, Cell Stem Cell, Science Advances, Science Translational Medicine). She is one of the highly cited authors (overe 47,500 citationss, h=124). With her students, she founded epiBone (epibone.com), Tara Biosystems (tarabiosystems.com), Xylyx Bio (xylyxbio.com), and Immplacate (immplacatehealth.com).

She is an elected member of Academia Europaea, Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor and Head of Laboratory, Prokhorov General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Petr I. Nikitin heads the Laboratory at the Natural Science Center, General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences. His research interests include development of optical bio- and chemical sensors, magnetic biosensors and microelectronic systems, biocomputing with nanoparticles, magnetic particle quantification and mapping, as well as application of these techniques for diagnostics, food and feed control, environmental monitoring and detection of biological weapons. He received his Master’s and a Ph.D. degree (Supervisor – Nobel Prize winner A.M. Prokhorov) from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He is the author of more than 150 papers published in high-ranking peer-review journals and more than 30 international patents. He is co-founder of Magnisense, SE company in Paris and Lyon, France and a member of International Advisory Committees of several major sensor conferences such as European Conference on Optical Chemical Sensors and Biosensors, European Conference on Magnetic Sensors and Actuators, etc.