Prof. Lorenzo Morelli

Istituto di Microbiologia UCSC, Piacenza, Italy

Professor and Chair of Food Microbiology and Biotechnology, Istituto di Microbiologia Università Cattolica S.C., Piacenza, Italy, pioneer in the field of the use of probiotic bacteria, co-ordinator of the first EU (1991) funded project devoted to probiotics (FLAIR project AGRF 0053 "Selection and characterisation of human probiotic strain"), track record of research activity in the field of molecular biology applied to probiotics, current research interest is focused on characterisation of molecular mechanism underling the probiotic action, a culture independent study on molecular ecology of the gut microbiota is an additional area of research, related to the use of prebiotics and to elucidate the role of gut bacteria in a range of gastro-intestinal pathologies, co-author of the two FAO/WHO documents - "Health and Nutritional Properties of Probiotics in Food including Powder Milk with Live Lactic Acid Bacteria" (2001) and "Guidelines for the Evaluation of Probiotics in Food" (2002).