LABIP Expert Workshop 2026 “Strain Identity – Reality and Pitfalls” 29-30 January 2026
LABIP will have its 2026 Expert Workshop 29-30 January 2026 at the Danone R&D Center facility in Saclay-Paris, France with the overall title “Strain Identity – Reality and Pitfalls”
With the Expert Workshop 2026 LABIP will give its members the opportunity to learn from and discuss with experienced researchers and legal experts to elucidate the reality and pitfalls of how to discriminate microorganisms on strain level .
11 well-known experienced researchers legal experts have signed up to give their views on this topic at the Expert Workshop.
The aim of the Expert Workshop is to elucidate the reality and pitfalls of how to discriminate microorganisms on strain level from each other.
Given that several commercial cultures consist of proprietary and often patented strains LABIP have asked several experts to present their view and position on the issue of how one can discriminate one strain from another strain. The issues will be addressed from both a scientific angle as well as from a regulatory, IPR and legal point of view.
The program for the Expert Workshop:
Venue: Danone R&D center, Route departementale 128 Paris-Saclay 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette – France
Thursday 29 January 2026:
Welcome by Sophie Legrain, President LABIP/ Lesaffre
Introduction to the topic
“The (un)bearable lightness of the strain: evolving concepts, definitions and names below the species level” Giovanna Felis, University of Verona, IT
Learnings from evolution, genetics and beyond
“Modeling strain transmission across human and food microbiomes” Vitor Heidrich, University of Trento, IT
“Evolution of strains in a food system, the example of kefir” Paul Cotter, Teagasc, IRL
Why is genomic information not sufficient “alone ; matching genotype to phenotype; what is possible today, and future outlooks
“From genotype to phenotype: computational approaches for inferring microbial traits relevant to the food industry”. Benjamin Sanchez, Novonesis, DK
“Mastering biodiversity for better fermented foods leveraging genomics insights and strain improvement” Jean-Marc Ladrière, IFF, FR
“Impact of methylation system on phenotype, and how does environment impact” Maria Juanpere-Borra, Nestle R&D
Friday 30 January 2026
Learning from pathogen source tracking
“The importance of SNPs level analysis, and what can be (or not) inferred” Caroline Barretto, Nestle, CH
“Other acceptable technologies to identify a strain in routine; do we need whole genome sequencing” Charlotte Peeters, University of Ghent, BE
Impact on legal and regulations
“Criteria for Strain Identification: Bridging Research and Regulatory Science” Pier Sandro Cocconcelli , University of Piacenza, IT
“Characterization of microorganisms from a patent perspective” Isabelle Chauvet, World International Property Organization, CH
“Where is “strain identity” important from a GLOBAL regulatory perspective? (incl. SOHO)” Magali Cordaillat – Simmons, IUT Clermont Auvergne, FR
End of Expert workshop – Key take aways.
The outcome of this Expert Workshop will be published in a LABIP position paper.
Giovanna Felis and Elisa salvetti from University of Verona will be the lead writers of this position paper.