Pr. Jacques Ravel, PhD in Environmental Molecular Microbiology and Ecology from the University of Maryland College Park, is a leading figure in microbiology. Following postdoctoral research in natural products chemistry and bioinformatics at Johns Hopkins University, he became an Associate Professor at the Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2007, after working as an Assistant Investigator at The Institute for Genomic Research from 2002 to 2007.
As a Professor and the Acting Director at the Institute since February 2022, his 18-year research program focuses on the vaginal microbiome's role in women's health, employing genomics and systems biology to develop strategies for managing gynecological and obstetric conditions. Dr. Ravel has over 300 publications and leads a NIH-funded project on biomimetic models for studying sexually transmitted infections. His innovations in vaginal health are being translated into biotherapeutic formulations. He was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology in 2012, received the Blaise Pascal Chair in 2015, and founded the Microbiome journal, now with an impact factor of 19.9.

Seminar Topic: Understanding the vaginal microbiome: Paving the way for live biotherapeutics innovation