International Biodiscovery Forum: Unlocking the Medicine of the Future
European Biotechnology Congress 2026
09:00 – 09:15
Opening Remarks : Session 1- International Biodiscovery Forum: Unlocking the Medicine of the Future
Chairs: Munis Dundar, Svetlana Georgieva
09:15 – 09:45
From Genomics to Precision Medicine: Translating Genetic Discoveries into Clinical Practice
Munis Dundar
09:45-10:15
Comprehensive miRNA and metabolomic profiling of plasma, pleural, and pericardial fluids in ischemic heart disease and functional validation in AC16 cardiomyocyte cells
Michele Maffia
10:15-10:30
Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:00
Engineering the Gut Microbiome: A Novel Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging
Satya Prakash
11:00 – 11:30
Rare solutions to Rare genetic diseases in translational medicine
Sehime G. Temel
11:00 – 11:30
Early-Life Genomic Diagnostics:
NGS Applications in Neonatal and Paediatric Medicine
Ozgur Cogulu
12:00 – 13:00
LUNCH
13:00 – 15:30
Session 2: International Biodiscovery Forum: Unlocking the Medicine of the Future
Chair: Nikolai Zhelev, Christene Leiper
13:00 – 13:30
Development of a Novel Oral Amphotericin B Formulation to Treat Parasitic and Fungal Infection
Christene Leiper
13:30 – 14:00
Application of AI to drug discovery and development
Edison Judge
14:00 – 14:30
Reimagining Clinical Trials with Agentic AI: Real‑Time Cohort Discovery and Ethical Digital Consent
Stephen Leiper
14:30 – 15:00
How Next-Generation Technologies Are Reshaping Drug Discovery and Development
Nikolai Zhelev
15:00 – 15:30
Cross species phenobarbital induced 3D microtissue hepatocyte hypertrophy characterized by AI image analysis
Matt Elcombe
08:30 – 09:00
Opening Remarks
09:00 – 11:30
Session 3 – International Biodiscovery Forum: Unlocking the Medicine of the Future
Chair: Tommaso Beccari, Donald Martin
09:00 – 09:30
Emerging Therapies for lysosomal storage diseases
Tommaso Beccari
09:30 – 10:00
Biomimetic Membrane Interfaces for Medical Devices
Donald Martin
10:00-10:15
Coffee Break
10:15-10:45
Shaping the Future of Cancer Care: ctDNA-Based Genomic Profiling in Solid Tumour
Management
Mahmut Cerkez Ergoren
10:45-11:15
Metabolomics and Risk prediction driven Clinical Diagnostic
Hilal Khalil
11:15-13:00
LUNCH
13:00 – 15:30
Session 4- International Biodiscovery Forum: Unlocking the Medicine of the Future 4
Chair: Gary Henehan
13:00 – 13:30
Deep Eutectic Solvents in Biocatalysis: Activation and Inhibition
Gary Henehan
13:30 – 14:00
Neoantigen peptide vaccines for personalized cancer treatment
Anargyros Moulas
14:30 – 15:00
Use of NGS-based copy number variation (CNV) analysis in clinical practice
Tahir Atik
09:00 – 09:45
Plenary Session 1 – Bulgarian Biotechnology Panel
Chairs: Munis Dundar, Svetlana Georgieva
09:00 – 09:20
Beyond Biotics: Bulgarian Science for Innovative Postbiotic Solutions
Svetla Danova
09:20 – 09:40
Modulating high-molecular glucansucrase in search of improved product profile for novel prebiotics
Stanimira Angelova
09:40 – 10:00
Subcritical water extraction as a novel approach for obtaining bioactive extracts from Echinacea purpurea
Petko Denev
10:00 – 10:15
Coffee Break
10: 15 – 11:30
Plenary Session 2
Chair: Donald Martin
10:15 – 10:35
Nanostructural characterisation of glycosylated protein interaction with lipid bilayer membranes
Beatrice Barletti
10:35-10:55
Nano-siRNA Formulations for Head and Neck and Lung Cancer Therapeutics
Satya Prakash
10:55-11:15
Halophytes: new crops for adaptation to climate change
Oscar Vicente
11:15 – 13:00
LUNCH
13:00- 14:30
Plenary Session 3 -MAGI Session – Innovative Strategies in Genetic Medicine: Integrative Omics, Computational Biology, and Deep Learning
Chairs: Matteo Bertelli, Tommaso Beccari
13:00- 14:30
Parallel session 1
Chair: Galina Yaneva
13:00- 13:15
Implementation of a GPU Accelerated and AI Integrated NGS Workflow
Jurgen Kaftalli
13:00- 13:15
Engineering Climate-Resilient Livestock: Biotechnological Strategies for Sustainable Animal Breeding
Dana Tapaloaga
13:15- 13:30
MAGISNAT Microbiome Pipeline: Data Processing and Interpretation
Ekaterina Chueva
13:15 – 13:30
Non‑Conventional Yeasts as Next Generation Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Postbiotics
Ivana Marova
13:30- 13:45
MAGI Deep Learning Based Classification of Inherited Retinal Diseases Using Retinal Imaging
Sara Feizyab
13:30- 13:45
Spatial fingerprinting of biotoxicity at Bay of Vlora – Comparative evaluation via different bioreporting systems
Ariola Bacu
13:45- 14:00
Polygenic Risk Scores in Lymphedema and Lipedema: A Machine Learning Approach to Risk Stratification
Luca Ferrari
13:45 – 14:00
From Microhydrodynamics to Kinetic Identifiability: Characteristic Times in Model-Driven Micro(bio)Reactor Design
Igor Plazl (Online)
14:00 – 14:15
Machine Learning Models for Personalized Diet and Physical Activity Using Omics and Clinical Data
Alessandro Macchia
14:00- 14:15
Engineering Biocatalytic Processes in Miniaturized Systems
Polona Žnidaršič Plazl (Online)
14:15- 14:30
Classification Model for Inherited Retinal Dystrophies Based on Omics and Clinical Data
Ahmad Abidin
14:15- 14:30
Comparative analysis of the structure and functions of myb transcription factors associated with anthocyanin accumulation in plants
Alexander Kilchevsky (Online)
14:30- 14:45
Bernard Fioretti
14:45-15:00
Coffee Break
15:00
Oral Presentations
Chair: Irina Nakashidze
15:00
Oral Presentations
Chair: Ariola Bacu
09:00 – 10:00
Paralle Session 2
Chair: Ivelin Iliev
09:00 – 10:00
Parallel Session 3
Chair: Nikoleta Ivanova
09:00 – 09:15
Tracking and control of spoilage bacteria in sub-high-temperature ham sausage
Qun Sun
09:00 – 09:15
Immunopathogenesis and Immunogenetic Variants underlying Tuberculosis-diabetes comorbid patients with implications for host-directed therapy via repurposing drugs
Jianping Xie
09:15 – 09:30
Marine dispatchable field operable water and sediment toxicity monitoring in real time (Online)
Robert Marks
09:15 – 09:30
Maternal vitamin D rescues the abnormal intestinal immune state of offspring induced by maternal immune activation
Jiang Xie
09:30 – 09:45
Alpha-mannosidosis: Therapeutic strategies
Michela Codini
09:30- 09:45
Anti-GPA33 ScFv engineered milk exosomes as a drug delivery system for targeted therapy of colorectal cancer
Lei Liu
09:45 – 10:00
Into lake water: molecular and microbiological insights from a One Health perspective
Martina Torricelli
09:45 – 10:00
Evidence for a novel non-canonical mechanism of exosome biogenesis
Federico Fiorani
10:00 -10:30
Coffee Break
10:30 – 11:30
Plenary Session 5
Chair: Nadya Agova
10:30 – 10:45
Bacterial cellulose: synthesis, properties, and applications
Iza Radecka
10:45 -11:00
Rethinking Psychiatric Risk Detection: AI Based Non-EEG Predictive and Preventive Framework
Osman Erogul
11:00 – 11:15
Development and evaluation of peptide vaccines for cancer
Anargyros Moulas
11:15 – 11:30
Deep Eutectic Solvents in Biocatalysis: Activation and Inhibition
Gary Henehan
12:00
Closing Ceromany and Awards