Dr. Toni Gabaldón is ICREA Research Professor jointly affiliated to the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) and the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC), where he leads the Comparative Genomics group (www.cgenomics.org). His research focuses on understanding underlying genomic bases of organismal adaptations, particularly in microbial organisms. He has developed and applied computational strategies to address relevant transitions such as the origin of eukaryotes, the emergence of novel fungal pathogens, or the acquisition of resistance by microbes during therapy. Dr. Gabaldón has received honors and awards such as the EMBO and American Academy of Microbioloy membership, the ERC starting and consolidator grants, and the Margaret Dayhoff award and is considered a highly cited researcher by clarivate analytics.

Juan Manuel Herrero, a veterinary medicine graduate, was born in Alicante (Spain) in 1983. After his graduation (University of Murcia, 2007) he joined the Genetic Area of the Animal Production Department in that University. There, he spent five years developing a robust research foundation in animal molecular genetics. His academic journey led to a PhD thesis Genetic Characterization of the Chato Murciano Pig (Murcia, 2012). In that summer of 2012, Juan Manuel moved to The Netherlands to continue his active collaboration with the Animal Breeding and Genomics Group (Wageningen University). There, he refined his genetic data analysis and researcher skills. JM Herrero’s completed a second PhD thesis Conservation genetics of local and wild pig populations: insight in genetic diversity and demographic history (The Netherlands, 2013) and 3 years as Postdoctoral Researcher (2012-2015).

Since 2015, he has been applying his expertise at the Pig Improvement Company, focusing on Genetic Services support to PIC customers.

Since the beginning of my scientific career, I have been deeply interested in understanding cell differentiation and how its dysregulation leads to genetically complex diseases, particularly autoimmune diseases and blood cancers. During my PhD (CNIO, Madrid, Spain), I explored this from an epigenetic perspective, revealing for the first time the role of DNA methylation in the pathogenesis of autoimmunity (1-2). Later, during my postdoc at the Babraham Institute (Cambridge, UK), I demonstrated that spatial chromatin organization undergoes profound changes during hematopoiesis, which not only reflect differentiation trajectories but also enable large-scale interpretation of genetic susceptibility to disease. During this time, I also gained in-depth bioinformatic expertise to complement my wet-lab background (3-8).

In 2019, I joined the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (IJC; Barcelona, Spain) as an independent group leader. My team integrates epigenetic and spatial chromatin organization insights, leveraging both experimental and computational approaches to deepen our understanding of hematopoiesis in health and disease (9-12).

My seminal contributions include pioneering demonstrations of the role of epigenetic deregulation in autoimmunity (1) (>750 citations), showcasing the power of gene promoter interactomes to reveal insights into the genomic regulatory mechanisms underlying diseases (4) (>1000 citations), the development of the Promoter Capture Hi-C (PCHi-C) method (4, 8), and its low-input version (liCHi-C) (10-11), as well as demonstrating the role of genome organization in preventing malignant transformation (12).

(1) Genome Res 2010*; (2) Mol Cancer Res 2011*; (3) Nat Genet 2015*; (4) Cell 2016*; (5) Mol Cell 2017*; (6) Genome Biol 2017*; (7) Nat Commun 2017*; (8) J Vis Exp 2018*#; (9) Nat Commun 2021#; (10) Nat Commun 2023#; (11) J Vis Exp, 2023#; (12) Nat Commun, 2024#;                                                          [* First author, #Corresponding Author]

José M. Jiménez-Gómez is a Research Scientist and the leader of the «Adaptive Genetics and Genomics» group at CBGP in Madrid (UPM-INIA-CSIC). His team uses bioinformatics, molecular biology and genetics in plants to identify and characterize genes important for adaptation and domestication. He believes that these genes shaped by selection are crucial tools for ensuring future food security.

The «Adaptive Genetics and Genomics» team has a 13-year history in international institutes such as the Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin, in Versailles (France); and the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, in Cologne (Germany). José M. Jiménez-Gómez completed his postdoctoral research at UCDavis (US) and his PhD at CNB-CSIC (Spain). Their publication record includes articles in journals like Nature Genetics, PNAS, and The Plant Cell.

Diego obtained a Degree in Biological Sciences in 1999 and a PhD Degree in 2006 from the University of Malaga. After a postdoctoral training at the Harvard Medical School (2008-2011) he returned to Spain with a Ramón y Cajal fellowship. He is currently full professor of microbiology at the University of Malaga (since 2022).

His scientific interest has focused on the study of bacterial communities, specifically on the chemical nature of the extracellular matrix, and the ecological role of this molecular framework in the establishment of different trophic relationships.