​ The First Microbiome Symposium of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean – new success for the COBRE Center for Microbiome Sciences

Organized by Puerto Rico AMI Global Ambassador Dr. Filipa Godoy-Vitorino and supported by the newly funded COBRE Puerto Rico Center for Microbiome Sciences (PR-CMS), the event, titled ’Community Dynamics in a Changing World’, brought together more than 200 participants, including local and national scientists, clinicians, students, environmental researchers, physician-scientists and computational biologists.

The symposium highlighted how microbiome research is reshaping our understanding of health, disease, biodiversity, and environmental resilience. Sessions explored host–microbiome interactions, cancer biology, infectious diseases, diet and immunity, tropical ecosystems, translational medicine and emerging computational approaches. A strong emphasis was placed on integrating multi-omics technologies, artificial intelligence and bioinformatics to better understand microbial ecosystems and their influence on human and environmental health.