Samantha Wisely

Dr. Samantha Wisely is a Professor of Wildlife Ecology and the Director of the Cervidae Health Research Initiative at the University of Florida, Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences. Her research investigates how global change alters wildlife disease dynamics and designs innovative wildlife pathogen surveillance systems. Using a combination of field and laboratory techniques, she uses a One Health approach to study disease systems and their impacts on threatened and endangered species, at the livestock/wildlife interface, and for wildlife diseases that are threats to human health. Dr. Wisely manages an annual research portfolio of more than $2 million, and she has won multiple honors including a UF Provost Research Fellowship, a national LEAD21 Land Grant University Leadership Fellowship, and most recently a Fulbright Scholarship to the Republic of Serbia. Dr. Wisely received her Ph.D. in Zoology and Physiology from the University of Wyoming, a M.Sc. in Wildlife Biology from Humboldt State University and a B.A. from University of California at San Diego.

Presentation title: Designing innovative wildlife surveillance systems for emerging pathogens of veterinary and medical importance in a changing world

 Cesare Gargioli

Dr. Cesare Gargioli has been working as an Associate Professor of Applied Biology at the Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, since 2022. He has published 89 articles in peer-reviewed journals (50 as first or last/corresponding author), including several in high-impact journals such as Nature Medicine, EMBO Molecular Medicine, and Biomaterials. His total H-index is 30 (according to SCOPUS).

Dr. Gargioli directs the Laboratory of Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, focusing on tissue regeneration and skeletal muscle reconstruction through the use of biomimetic matrices and novel 3D printing technologies. Additionally, since 2020, he has been working in the field of cultivated meat, driven by the global need for sustainable meat production. His research addresses challenges related to resource depletion, animal welfare, and ecological impact. He aims to usher in a new era of cultured meat by focusing on the development of structured cultured meat using 3D bioprinting and stem cell biotechnology.

Presentation title: 3D bioprinting for structured culture meat