e.biofilm — Group of Excellence on Engineered Biofilms

From September 8–11, our team was at the ozef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana for four intense days of learning and collaboration within the COST Action CA23152 (Biofilm RegulatoryToolBox).

Led by our project coordinator, Darla Goeres, who serves as Action Chair and was one of the Training School instructors, the event brought together international experts to advance experimental design, statistical validation, and standardization of biofilm methods. 📊🧪

The e.Biofilm project was also represented by Joana Vilas Boas and Vânia Pinheiro, who actively participated in both the hands-on Training School and the 4th Working Groups Meeting, discussing future roadmaps and collaborative ring trials. 🤝💡

A big thank you to the local organizers and the Gaseous Electronics Department (F6) JSI for hosting such a productive week!

Machine learning is powerful, but it isn’t a magic wand for biofilm research. 🧫💻

We had the privilege of hosting Prof. Dr. Al Parker (Montana State University-Bozeman) for an insightful session on the real boundaries of AI in biofilm science: “Machine Learning can’t do everything in biofilm science”.

Key takeaways from the discussion:

 • Data quality comes first: algorithms are only as good as the experiments behind them – rigorous biological data generation remains critical; 

 • Interpretability vs. flexibility: highly flexible models often sacrifice the mechanistic clarity scientists need;

 • The “No Free Lunch” reality: sophisticated random forests don’t always beat simple regression – especially with limited biological data.

A huge thank you to Prof. Albert Parker for sharing his expertise and reminding us that sound scientific inquiry always precedes algorithm selection. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion!

The e.Biofilm Project was proud to take part in this year’s ALiCE Connect, hosted at Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões. With a motto that aligns deeply with our mission, the day was a fantastic platform to share our journey and look ahead.

Our coordinator, Nuno Filipe Azevedo, was one of the featured speakers in the Collaborative Research sessions, showcasing the project’s main achievements and future developments. 🎤🔬

Beyond the science, it was a wonderful day to reconnect with colleagues, exchange ideas, and celebrate as a community at the closing dinner! 🥂✨

A big thank you to the organizing committee and volunteers for putting together such an engaging event.

We’re pleased to welcome back Vânia Pinheiro! 🇵🇹🇺🇸

Our PhD student, Vânia Pinheiro, has returned to Portugal after an impactful 3-month research stay in the USA, where she carried out part of her doctoral work at the Center for Biofilm Engineering (CBE), Montana State University-Bozeman, under the supervision of our project coordinator Darla Goeres and Professor Ross Carlson.

During this period, Vânia expanded the study of the in vitro chronic wound model she previously developed at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, taking it to the CBE to evaluate how Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus adapt to chemical stress and environmental changes. This was also a great opportunity to showcase her PhD work, by presenting a research poster at the Montana Biofilm Meeting (MBM) 2026. 🔬📄

It’s great to have you back, Vânia! We can’t wait to see the next steps of your PhD journey! 🚀🎓