APC News
APC and ISAPP, a meeting of minds
The 2024 ISAPP (International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics) Annual Meeting was held in Cork from the 9th to the 11th July. The choice of Cork was largely based on the presence of such a large cohort of microbiome, probiotic and prebiotics researchers at APC Microbiome Ireland, a world leading SFI Research Centre.
The ISAPP Annual meeting brings together representatives of almost 60 industry leaders and an invited group of internationally recognised academic researchers to discuss the latest progress in the fields of probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, synbiotics and fermented foods. The usual format is that attendance is by invitation only, but in recognition of APC Microbiome Ireland two days of the meeting were declared ‘open’ and over 50 APC researchers attended and presented their research.
Two APC PI’s, Douwe van Sinderen and John Cryan, were also invited to give plenary talks on mother-baby transmission of bifidobacteria and the microbiome-gut-brain axis in health and disease. These talks were given to large audiences and had an excellent reception, reflecting on the research excellence present in APC. At the pre-meeting programme Cathy Lordan, Teagasc and APC, facilitated an Innovation workshop on ‘Novel techniques in biotic research.’ ISAPP also has a strong Students and Fellow Association (SFA) and APC students and postdocs have played leading roles in this group over the years. Lots of APC students and postdocs presented their work at the conference and Natalia Rios-Colombo (Nati) won the best poster prize for her work on off-target effects of bacteriocins in complex communities.
The meeting and the associated social events provided an excellent opportunity for networking and meeting up with globally recognised scientists and industry leaders, as well as providing an opportunity to connect with ex-APC members who have gone on to important roles in industry and in academia. APC hosted an evening reception during with APC Director Prof Paul Ross spoke of how the organisations have grown together as ISAPP and and APC were formed in the same era and have seen huge transformation In probiotics and microbiome research. The scientific content of the meeting reflected the glowing health of the field, with talks describing clinical trials, mechanistic insights, impact on health in developing countries and many more topics.
In short, an excellent meeting and many thanks to Lorraine Draper who was the main point of contact in APC and Conference UCC who dealt with many of the logistics.
Reflection on ISAPP 2024 by ISAPP Chair Prof Colin Hill who is a PI at APC.
