ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Sarbini: I think ISAPP is the ultimate meeting point for international experts in probiotics and prebiotics, to develop these scientific field in accordance with consumer, health, social and regional needs.

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Sarbini: I think to be held in Asia for the first time, this ISAPP meeting will be very interesting. The field of pro and prebiotic in Asia is still very young and mostly unknown by the consumers. however, I see great potentials.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Sarbini: The key issues that need to be tackle is the consumer's and industrial player's knowledge. If we can enhance this, we may see significant positive changes towards the pro and prebiotics industry.

Shahrul Razid SARBINI (Assoc. Prof. Dr.)

DEAN (FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SCIENCES)
BSc. (Hons)(UNIMAS), MSc. (UNIMAS), Ph.D (Reading)  
Field of Expertise : Functional Food

Current Research Interest

1. Investigation and development of sago starch as a potential prebiotic
2. Structure and function relationship of prebiotic
3. Screening of novel probiotic microorganisms from the environment

ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Wim: Bringing scientists from different fields together with industrial partners is important to drive knowledge. There is so much to learn from each other but unfortunately scientists and industrial partners often stay within their comfort zone. A conference like this helps to bridge these remote comfort zones.

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Wim: I feel myself lucky to have lectured already several times within Asian countries. From this I have learned that this continent is MUCH more advanced in and open to probiotic therapies than the western world. Unfortunately I sometimes also see that research from West does not always reach East but also research from East does not always reach West. By bringing the meeting to Asia, I really hope that the bridge that there is between researchers and industry partners from different continents can become more strong.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Wim: In my field, which is oral health, the key issue that needs to be tackled is to convince the dentists and oral healthcare workers of the potential and the benefits of probiotic/prebiotic therapies. To do this, one needs a recipe with 2 major ingredients: 1. top level science 2. an industrial network that can translate and deliver the scientific message to the dentist and community.

Prof Wim Teughels

Professor Wim Teughels graduated in 2000 as a dentist at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven) in Belgium. At the same university, he obtained in 2006 the degree of specialist in Periodontology and he defended successfully his PhD thesis entitled “Microbial Interactions Involved in Bacterial Colonization of Epithelial Cells”. He also received a “European Federation of Periodontology (EFP) certificate in Periodontology”. In 2007, he was a visiting researcher at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and he was appointed assistant professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the KULeuven. His teaching obligations consist of a variety of subjects within the field of Periodontology and Human Anatomy. Currently, he works as a professor at the KULeuven and as the vice-head of the Periodontology section of the University Hospitals Leuven.
His research focuses on Periodontology and oral microbiology with a special emphasis on bacterial adhesion, microbial interactions, antimicrobials and probiotics. His research work has been funded by grants of the KULeuven, Fund for Scientific Research Flanders, NIH (NIDCR) and different companies. This has led to more than 115 publications in international journals and more than 10 chapters in books. He received 5 national and 3 international awards and is frequently invited both nationally as internationally for lectures regarding the concept of “probiotics”. In 2012, Prof. Teughels became an associate editor for the Journal of Periodontal Research and an associate editor for the “Carranza’s Clinical Periodontology” textbook.

ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Patrice: ISAPP is unique by its originality, the meetings are great opportunities to meet different specialists (e.g., academic, industrial) discussing topics which are at the forefront of the knowledge in the field of gut microbiota and health. We can really to bridge the gap between disciplines.

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Patrice: Science has no frontiers! Science is global, Science federates people from all over the worlds! I really look forward to meet great scientists that I often see on other continents; this time I have the chance to meet them and many others in Asia.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Patrice: I have a limited knowledge but I have been in contact and I have met several industrial partners working in the field of prebiotic, and probiotics but most of them are already known in our countries, because of their global brands.
During my past professional travels in Asia (Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan) I have always been fascinated by the numerous products and opportunities that are available there, but that never reach Europe for instance, for several reasons: 1) cultural 2) regulatory.
I really do think that a more global view must be discussed. Why should we not benefit from wonderful products from Asia? And vice versa. As for any other medical/health products, we need to think globally and to propose them to the largest population in the world.

Dr. Patrice Cani

Professor at the Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, Patrice D. Cani is researcher from the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research and group leader in the Metabolism and Nutrition lab at the Louvain Drug Research Institute from the UCL, Brussels, Belgium.
He is Visiting Professor at the Imperial College London since 2010 at the Faculty of Medicine, Section of Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer
He is recipient of the prestigious Inbev-Baillet Latour grant for medical research (2015), the international Prize of Physiology Lucien Dautrebande (2016).
Prof. Cani is co-director (with Prof. C. Knauf) of the European Associated Laboratory : “NeuroMicrobiota” (INSERM, Toulouse, France/UCL, Brussels, Belgium).
He is Dietitian and holds two masters, one in M.Sc. in Human Nutrition and another M.Sc. in Health Sciences, and he holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences.
He is WELBIO investigator and recipient of an European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant 2013 (ENIGMO) and PoC ERC 2016 (Microbes4U).
He is author and co-author of more than 180 scientific research publications, reviews and book chapters.

ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Lee: It is a method to bring together scientists in all disciplinary areas to focus on pre- and pro-biotics. Such type of communication is important to bridge topics that needs further discussions and explorations.

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Lee: It is important, as historically pre-and pro-biotics have been existing in the Asian diet; a good communication between scientists are lacking and I believe ISAPP can support/improve this.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Lee: The key issue is the practice of use and delivering accurate information to the community.

Dr. Jetty Chung-Yung Lee
B.Agr (Hons) (Korea University)
M.Phil (The University of Hong Kong)
Ph.D. (The University of Hong Kong)
Research Interests:

• Lipid peroxidation and profiling of biological samples.
• Development and measurement of oxidative damage biomarkers in biological samples using GC/MS and LC-MS/MS.
• Oxidative stress and disease development.
• Antioxidant and oxidative stress in human nutrition.
• Oxidative stress and environmental stressors.

ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Lee: The ISAPP conference, which focuses on basic science and levels of evidence, is important for fostering the translation of science into clinical practice

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Lee: Asia represent the largest human population of diverse ethnicity, culture and life style, and a market for probiotics/prebiotics. It has a large population that could benefit from the knowledge and application of probiotic and prebiotic science and products. It has also an active research environment and interest in the field of probiotics/prebiotics. This first ISAPP Asia meeting to be held in Singapore would provide the platform for the exchange of knowledge and interaction of scientists, clinical practitioners and regulators across the globe.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Lee: The need for development of regionalized probiotics/prebiotics for specific background of population would be the imminent issue to tackle.

Dr. Yuan Kun LEE is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, at the National University of Singapore. His research interests lie in photosynthetic carbon dioxide removal, probiotics, and microbial fermentation. His current projects include cell adhesion, immunomodulation, signaling pathways, carbohydrate as a signaling molecule, probiotics as oral vaccine vectors, photosynthetic microalgae for carbon dioxide capture, and algal lipid & biofuel production.

ISAPP has a unique approach to meetings, emphasizing the science before all else. Why do you think a conference like this is important?
Tang: ISAPP offers an opportunity to present new research developments in a forum that brings together experts from academia and industry.

This is ISAPP’s first annual meeting in an Asian country. From this, what unique perspectives do you think will be brought to the meeting?
Tang: Many of the major meetings are located in the EU or USA which may be difficult to access for researchers and stakeholders in Asia. ISAPP 2018 will facilitate greater attendance and contribution from the local SE Asia region which will bring new ideas and projects.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Tang: Application of probiotics or prebiotics for the management of health conditions will require pharmaceutical grade GMP manufacture and licencing. This will involve a major shift in production and development processes.

Professor Tang has more than 20 years' experience in the investigation of basic immunological mechanisms underlying allergic disease pathogenesis, and correlation of mechanistic studies with clinical outcomes. She has worked in the field of probiotics, prebiotics and gut microbiota for the past 10 years and has expertise in the investigation of gut microbiota changes in allergic disease. She is also a leader in the field of primary immune deficiency in the Asia Pacific region.

Over the course of her career, Professor Tang has been awarded research grants with a total in excess of $20.5 million and has authored over 190 peer reviewed journal articles, invited reviews, and book chapters.

Why do you think a conference like ISAPP (emphasizing science above all else) is important?
Reid: The field has grown exponentially in the past 15 years, including in countries where regulation of products is poorly overseen. ISAPP keeps the standards high and emphasizing the need to obtain appropriate human (or other target host) data to support products.

What unique perspectives do you think will be brought to this first meeting in Asia?
Reid: I think we will be in awe at how much research is being done in Asia on probiotics and prebiotics. Hopefully, much collaboration can be created from the coming together of 'western' and 'eastern' scientists and clinicians.

With your knowledge of the Asian probiotic/prebiotic industry, what do you see as some of the key issues that need to be tackled in the future?
Reid: I would like to see: (1) strong claims (include prevention and treatment of disease) being permitted, based on well-designed human studies; and (2) the development of tools to align mechanisms of action with functional effects.

About Prof. Reid: He earned a PhD from Massey University and an MBA from Monash University in Australia. He is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Surgery at The University of Western Ontario since 1990, and holds an Endowed Chair in Human Microbiome and Probiotics at the Lawson Health Research Institute since 2008. He has an Honorary Doctorate from Orebro University in Sweden, and is an inductee into the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

A Canadian pioneer of lactobacilli probiotics, especially for feminine health, he has been awarded 28 patents, published 509 peer-reviewed papers, and given over 600 talks in 54 countries. He has helped create programs that allow people in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya to produce probiotic yogurt for over 150,000 people. Since 2000, he has been a champion for using probiotics for premature infants, a practise now standard in London ON.