david.peggs@skretting.com

David has a background in fish microbiology, immunology and prebiotic/probiotic applications in fish and shrimp. He has worked at Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre since 2016 with a focus on microbiome interactions and applications within aquaculture. His work includes identifying and the screening of novel functional feeds for fish and shrimp with the main aim to support gut health. Furthermore, his research also encompasses the mitigation of pathogens and environmental challenges within aquatic ecosystems.

Function in the project: Whilst Rebecca is on maternity leave, David will coordinate Skretting ARC’s activities in the Fish-AI project, which include fish trials, feed production, and administration.

grethe.rosenlund@skretting.com

Grethe held a number of R&D positions within the field of aquaculture nutrition before joining the Skretting Aquaculture Research Centre in 1990. Her work focuses on the use of alternative raw materials to fish meal and fish oil, with a special emphasis on lipid sources, and the development of feeds for new species in aquaculture, primarily starter feeds and broodstock nutrition. Grethe has co-authored over 80 scientific publications.

Function in the project: Grethe will offer support in the formulation and analysis of feeds.

tandler@ocean.org.il

His expertise is in fish larval physiology and nutrition. His research focus is in establishment of the marine fish larval rearing approach which became the standard for the mass production of marine fish fingerlings in Israel such as seabream, seabass, the grey mullet and lately the white grouper and development of microdiets as a replacement for the ubiquitous use of live feeds as first feed in the larval sages.

His administrative experience is extensive and he served as the director of the National Center for Mariculture and as scientific adviser on fisheries and mariculture to the director general and the chief scientist of Israel Ministry of Agriculture.

amir.bitan@ocean.org.il

His educational background is cell and molecular biology. His current research interests are on the field of fish nutrition. His focus is on increasing protein efficiency in aquaculture by studying the relevant molecular and physiological pathways and elucidating how they are affected by the choice of feed ingredients and functional feed additives. Fish species of interest include gilthead seabream, striped bass, grey mullet and white grouper.

marcelo.chacon@ocean.org.il

His educational background is Cell and Molecular Biology, with several years of experience in neurodegeneration using in vitro and in vivo rodent models. Marcelo joined our team in March 2020 and has been working on the setup of the in vitro digestion method.

liatkoch@gmail.com

Her educational background is genetic and molecular biology. Her last research was focused on fish larvae (Sparus aurata) hypothalamic neuropeptide genes that play a role in the regulation of food intake regime and their energy balance.
Liat will develop the in vitro digestion protocol to be used for the Fish-AI.

Sandra.Vanvlierberghe@UGent.be

Her research focuses on the development of crosslinkable (bio)polymers (i.e. gelatin, polysaccharides, synthetic polyethers, polyesters, etc.) and their processing capabilities (in the presence of cells) using 3D printing techniques to develop scaffolds for tissue engineering.

In this project, Sandra will coordinate tasks related to (bio)polymer development, characterization and processing using 3D printing and electrospinning in order to mimic the artificial fish intestine.

ines.castro@biofabics.com

Inês Castro performed her PhD work at the University of Würzburg, Germany (2008-2013), where she studied the mechanism of metastasis development from Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and acquired a deep knowledge in Molecular Biology, Molecular Engineering Techniques, Cell/Tissue Biology (Oncology), Immunobiology and establishment of xenograft models. For her Post-Doc she joined the Institute of Pathology of the University of Würzburg, as affiliated of Patrys GmbH, where she aimed to use natural antibodies for the treatment of cancer, conducting pre-clinical drug discovery projects and phase I trials. In 2017/2018 she worked as an external consultant at GeneHolistics, an AI company for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics and in August of 2018 joined Biofabics as a Senior Project Developer.

pedro.costa@biofabics.com

Dr. Pedro Costa is a researcher, inventor, educator and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO/CTO of the company BIOFABICS, which is specialized in the creation of 3D Biotissue Analogues. Before that, he was the coordinator of the world’s first MSc Programme in Biofabrication at Utrecht University, manager of the Utrecht Biofabrication Facility and postdoctoral researcher at the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands). Dr. Costa can be described as a biologist by training and engineer/maker by heart, given his undergraduate studies in Applied Biology followed by a PhD in Biomedical Engineering where he specialized in the combination of highly automated tools such as 3D (bio)printing and bioreactor technologies in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He has previously worked in both academic and industrial environments in places such as Germany (Technical University of Munich), Australia (Queensland University of Technology), Belgium (Materialise NV) and Portugal (University of Minho). Dr. Costa has received several awards for his work, among them the 2014 Translational Award (European Society for Biomaterials) and the 2016 Young Investigator Award (International Society for Biofabrication). In 2018 he was also awarded with a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and in 2020 was selected as a finalist (top 4 in the Innovative Science category) in the European Commission’s Innovation Radar Prize.

Anna.Szabo@Ugent.be

Anna Szabó is a PhD student in the Polymer Chemistry & Biomaterials Group at Ghent University.

Her work focuses on developing different kinds of (bio)polymers for the fabrication of scaffolds which can function as artificial fish intestine.

She will use the combination of molding, electrospinning and various 3D printing techniques for the design of the scaffolds, and functionalize them for enhancing the growth and differentiation of intestinal ephitelial cells.