Dr. VALENTINA PETITO received an MSc in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Rome Tor Vergata and a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Metabolism Sciences from the Institute of Special Medical Pathology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. She worked as a Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA, for 12 months (2014–2015), and she is a Senior Biologist currently working at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “A. Gemelli” IRCCS, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in the Translational Gastroenterology laboratory Her expertise is in the fields of translational research in IBD, medical biotechnology, cell biology, and molecular biology.

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Prof. Lorenza Putignani is the Head of the Parasitology Unit, the Head of the Human Microbiome Unit, and a Senior Researcher at the Children’s Hospital and Research Institute “Bambino Gesù” in Rome. She is also a Professor at UniCamillus, University of Foggia and Campus Biomedico, University of Rome La Sapienza and Roma III. She graduated in Chemistry with Laude from the University of Rome La Sapienza and then she obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology and Epidemiology with a final dissertation in Molecular Parasitology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome “Sapienza”. She continued her studies in Glasgow, Rome and at the Molecular Microbiology Unit of the National Institute for Infectious Diseases (INMI), “Spallanzani” Hospital of Rome. Her research interests include immunology and microbiology, medicine, and food allergens.

Prof. Maria T. Abreu is a gastroenterologist who specializes in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). She completed her medical degree at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Her postdoctoral training included an internship and residency in medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and a clinical and research fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She was an Associate Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NYC and head of the IBD Center. She is currently the Director of the Crohn’s and Colitis Center, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She was appointed in June 2018 to serve as the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Medicine. Dr. Abreu has more than 20 years of leadership experience in basic, translational and clinical research and mentoring. She holds key positions with several professional societies. Most recently she was elected Vice President of the AGA, and since May 2023 she has been occupying the President-Elect position. She will be the fifth woman in the history of this institution to hold this position. Dr. Abreu is a recipient of the 2019 Sherman Prize by The Bruce and Cynthia Sherman Charitable Foundation. In 2020, she received the Mentoring Award from the IMIBD section of the AGA and Healio’s Lifetime Disruptor Award.

Prof. Birgitte Regenberg is a Professor at the Department of Biology at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH). She conducted her Ph.D. studies in Genetics at the Carlsberg Laboratory and got her Ph.D. from UCPH. After her Ph.D., she worked as an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Denmark at the Center for Process Biotechnology where she built the transcriptomic facility (2000–2004). She continued her research in systems biology as an FNU-funded researcher at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main (2004–2007). She returned to UCPH in a tenure-track position with a Skou Fellowship in 2007 and started her laboratory. She has since had several stays at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, and at Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University as a visiting Professor. Her research has focused on yeast biofilm, genetics and genome evolution. Her group has pioneered studying extrachromosomal circular DNA with the groundbreaking discovery that all parts of eukaryotic genomes form extrachromosomal circular DNA, answering a long-standing question about what happens to deleted DNA. She has shown how extrachromosomal circular DNA contributes substantially to expressed genetic variation with consequences for chromosome evolution and new aspects of cancer. Her group’s conceptual and technological expertise has given her a leading role in this upcoming field, which has led to large interdisciplinary collaborations.

Antonio Gasbarrini is the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and a Full Professor of Internal Medicine at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome. He is also the Director of the Dept. of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Gemelli IRCCS. Graduating with honors in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Bologna in 1988, Professor Gasbarrini is a specialist in both Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy. He furthered his expertise as a Clinical and Research Fellow in Gastroenterology at the University of Pittsburgh (USA) from 1990 to 1993. He has served in leadership roles for associations such as the Italian Association for the Study of the Liver, the Italian Foundation for Research in Hepatology, and the Alliance against Hepatitis. Professor Gasbarrini's research focuses on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and therapy of gastrointestinal, liver, and pancreatic diseases. In recent years, he has developed a particular focus on the role of the intestinal microbiota in the health and pathogenesis of digestive system diseases and in innovative methods for characterizing and modulating it, including fecal microbiota transplantation. He is the principal investigator of numerous trials in the field of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, hepatitis, liver tumors, irritable bowel syndrome, and dysbiosis.

Prof. Dr. Franco Scaldaferri is a Medical Director and Specialist in Gastroenterology at the UOC of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, CEMAD (Centro Malattie Apparato Digerente), Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Roma, Italy. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome Campus, Faculty of Medicine. He received a Specialization in Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. He obtained from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart his Doctor of Medicine in 2005, and his Ph.D. in Pathophysiology of Human Nutrition and Metabolism in 2013. He has been involved in several international phase II, III and IV clinical trials on chronic inflammatory bowel disease as a sub-investigator or co-investigator. He is also a member of the Italian Society of Gastroenterology (SIGE), Italian Society of Internal Medicine (SIMI), Italian Group of IBD (IgIBD), and the Y-ECCO (Young European Crohn's and Colitis Organization).