The One Health Microbiome Center (OHMC) in the Penn State Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences will host the One Health Microbiome Symposium on May 13 and 14, 2026. The symposium will bring together researchers from an ensemble of traditionally siloed disciplines to unify microbiome science, reflecting the center's mission. By welcoming industry partners and convening experts from the "One Health" pillars of human, agricultural and environmental health, the symposium highlights a central principle: Human health is inseparably linked to the health of our environment.
"The One Health Microbiome Symposium at Penn State is an iconic gathering focused on authentic collaboration and conventionalization of a maturing discipline, as well as necessary unification of divides in the microbiome sciences," said Seth Bordenstein, director of the OHMC and professor of biology and of entomology, and Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Microbiome Sciences. "It will be an intense and tightly interconnected meeting of scientists, educators, artists, students, industry leaders and world-renowned scholars - all with global impact and a distinct voice from the One Health Microbiome Center. We know attendees will remember the symposium for a very long time."
Staying true to the theme of One Health, the symposium's keynote speakers span plant-pathogen ecology and evolution, food safety and spoilage, and understudied infectious disease agents such as fungi, reflecting the breadth and depth of microbiome science, Bordenstein said.
- Joy Bergelson, evolutionary biologist at New York University and executive vice president of the Simons Foundation Life Sciences division, is renowned for her pioneering research on plant-pathogen interactions and the ecology of thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
- Martin Wiedmann, the Gellert Family Professor in Food Safety and Food Science at Cornell University, is a leader in understanding zoonotic and foodborne pathogens, using Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella as model systems. He also leads extension programs supporting food safety and dairy microbiology in New York State, and is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and AAAS.
- Arturo Casadevall, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, is internationally recognized for his research on host-microbe interactions and immune defense, with a particular focus on the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Microbiology.
The One Health Microbiome Symposium will include four thematic sessions exploring key dimensions of microbiome research across the center's One Health research and education foci, as well as a gallery highlighting the OHMC's art-science collaborations. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in talks, networking and poster sessions, all aimed at fostering collaboration.
"We are excited to continue expanding our One Health impact," said Erika Ganda, symposium organizer, executive committee member of the OHMC, and associate professor of food animal microbiomes in the department of animal science.
To register for the event, visit the OHMC website. Scholars from across all disciplines in research and education are encouraged to participate. Abstract submissions will open in January 2026, with trainees, professionals and researchers across all levels invited to share their work.
About the OHMC
As one of the largest and most active units in the field, the OHMC is on a global mission to define the future of health and build a legacy of contributions that promote the general welfare of humans, agriculture and the environment. Learn more on the OHMC website.
