Dr. Cristina Blanco Sío-López is Marie Skłodowska-Curie Senior Global Fellow and Principal Investigator (PI) of the EU Horizon 2020 research project ‘Navigating Schengen: Historical Challenges and Potentialities of the EU’s Free Movement of Persons, 1985-2015’ (NAVSCHEN) at the European Studies Center (ESC) – EU Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence (JMEUCE) of the University of Pittsburgh (2019-2021) and at the Ca' Foscari University of Venice. She previously was Assistant Professor in European Culture and Politics at the University of Groningen and ‘Santander’ Senior Fellow in Iberian and European Studies at the European Studies Centre (ESC) – St. Antony’s College of the University of Oxford, where she remains a Senior Member.  She is Executive Committee Member of the Global Young Academy (GYA), Fellow of the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) and Full Member of the Young Academy of Spain. She was Chair of the North America Chapter of the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) in 2020-2021, which received the ‘Best Non-European Chapter Award 2020’ by the MCAA.  She obtained her PhD in History and Civilization (European Integration History) at the European University Institute of Florence (EUI) and received the FAEY Best PhD Thesis ‘European Research and Mobility’ Award in 2008.

James Perkins is a postdoctoral bioinformatics and computational biology researcher at the University of Malaga-IBIMA and the Spanish Rare Disease Biomedical Research Network (CIBERER). His research interests include omics-analysis, target prioritization, functional annotation, systems biology and disease-phenotype analysis, with a focus on rare disease.

I am a Professor of Toxicology, Biochemistry and Cell Signaling at Université Paris Cité (former Université Paris Descartes). I have completed my PhD in molecular toxicology and a post-graduate year in Bethesda, MD. I am the head of a Master degrees in toxicology and ecotoxicology. My research is based on cellular and animal models and on three main axes: 1) the influence of persistent organic pollutants on breast tumorigenesis and metabolic disruption, 2) the contextual role of pollutants in the occurrence of chronic liver diseases including steatosis and fibrosis, 3) the effect of mixtures on the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. I am involved in the development of innovative pedagogy methods and technics in order to improve transmission, acquisition, memorization and utilization of scientific knowledge by our biomedical students. I used flipped classrooms, quizzes (at home and during courses) and virtual reality to interact and immerge with students in and outside the classroom. Indeed, I developed with pedagogic engineers, 1) Home-based 45’’ Quizzes to engage students in regular learning modes and 2) serious games on cell signaling and xenobiotic stress. Together, with Etienne Blanc, Caroline Chauvet and Frédéric Dardel, I wrote several French books of biochemistry and toxicology topics for undergraduate students. I collaborate with several national and international institutes and universities (CNAM Thierry KOSCIELNIAK, Université de Strasbourg Jean-Luc SOUCIET, National University of Singapore, Fun Man FUNG...) for the development of innovative methods in teaching.

Junior-GBM is the Junior Section of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM). It was set up in 2011 to support the career development and networking opportunities of students and young researchers in the molecular life sciences in Germany. The Junior-GBM organise and deliver their own activities, under the supervision of their Society and all members of the Junior-GBM are members of the GBM. Junior-GBM are also part of the FEBS Junior Section. To find out more about the Junior-GBM read their overview post and check out the online talks and other activities they deliver, accesible from the 'Popular contributions' section below.

Dr. Isabel Varela-Nieto graduated and earned her doctorate in Chemistry, Biochemistry Section, at the University Complutense of Madrid (Spain). She has been a visiting guest scientist at the Medical Schools of Uppsala (FEBS Fellow, Sweden) and San Diego (MEC Sabbatical, USA). She is Professor of Research at the CSIC and group leader at the CIBER of rare diseases (CIBERER, ISCIII) in Madrid. From the early 1990s she has been studying hearing neurobiology and IGF-1 actions. She was the first Chair of the SEBBM Science for Society working group with which she actively collaborates, and member of the FEBS Network working group. She is currently the president of the SEBBM, a member of the FEBS Science and Society Committee and of the ISC Finances Committee.