MIRRI-ERIC Voices Ep. 7: Inside the Institut Pasteur Collections — Exploring, Preserving and Safeguarding Microbial Diversity

MIRRI-ERIC Voices Ep. 7: Inside the Institut Pasteur Collections — Exploring, Preserving and Safeguarding Microbial Diversity | Date: 14 October 2026 | Time: 13:00 (CET)

To participate in this episode of the webinar series "MIRRI-ERIC Voices", please fill in the Registration Form. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at [email protected].

 

The 7^th episode of "MIRRI-ERIC Voices" will be hosted by the French Node of MIRRI-ERIC, featuring a one-hour presentation and Q&A delivered by Meriem Paris, Head of the Collection of Institut Pasteur (CIP), and Muriel Gugger, Head of the Laboratory Collection of Cyanobacteria at the Institut Pasteur and responsible for the Pasteur Culture of Cyanobacteria (PCC).

The episode will feature two presentations:

• The Cyanobacteria Collection: a goldmine for research
• The Collection of Institut Pasteur: our journey to ensure safe and long-term storage of strains

Muriel Gugger is a cyanobacteriologist and Head of the Laboratory Collection of Cyanobacteria at the Institut Pasteur, where she is responsible for the Pasteur Culture of Cyanobacteria (PCC). Her research focuses on the evolution of cyanobacteria and their natural products, using the diversity of the PCC as a tool for her research activities. She began working with cyanobacteria in 1997 during her PhD on the taxonomy and phylogeny of freshwater toxic cyanobacteria using biochemical and molecular approaches. After two post-doctoral positions, she joined the cyanobacteria unit at the Institut Pasteur in 2007 as a joint curator of the PCC and became Head of the laboratory in 2009.

Meriem Paris is Head of the Collection of Institut Pasteur (CIP), one of the oldest microbial collections in the world, containing over 25,000 strains of bacteria, yeasts, filamentous fungi and bacteriophages. She is also a member of the Biosafety Committee at the Institut Pasteur in Paris. Her main areas of expertise include risk assessment and bacterial pathogenicity, with applications in microbial ecology, the agri-food sector and public health. She has also developed significant expertise in high-containment laboratory settings.

Join us to discover the scientific value of microbial collections and learn more about how the Institut Pasteur collections support research while ensuring the safe and long-term preservation of microbial resources.

"MIRRI-ERIC Voices" gives the stage to MIRRI-ERIC’s Partners to present their work, achievements, and innovations in the microbial world. Each episode features one MIRRI-ERIC partner’s chosen theme, offering insight into its unique contributions to the Consortium and to the European research landscape and promoting knowledge exchange across the MIRRI-ERIC network and the field of culture collection.