Postgenomic Intersections: Epistemology and Ethics for the Exposome and Microbiome

Postgenomic Intersections: Epistemology and Ethics for the Exposome and Microbiome 

This workshop brings together researchers from philosophical, sociological, and scientific backgrounds to explore the challenges and opportunities arising from contemporary postgenomics and at the intersection of microbiomics and exposomics.

• Organising committee: Thomas Bonnin, Stefano Canali, Abigail Nieves Delgado, Aline Potiron, Federica Russo, Elian Schure
• Dates: 2-3 March 2026
• Location: Aula Rogers, ground floor of Polimi Building 11 (metro stop: Piola M2)

Monday 2 March  

9:00 – 9:30

Registration and welcome

9:30 – 11:00

Elodie Giroux (Université Lyon 3, France), “Some Epistemological Challenges to the Integration of Health and Environment”

11:00 – 11:30

Coffee break

11:30 – 13:00

Davide Vecchi (UNED, Spain), “On some conceptual challenges in the transition towards an integrative mode of biological explanation” 

Thomas Bonnin & Stefano Canali (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), “Integrating Repertoires? The Case of Exposomics and Microbiomics”

Susan V.H. Castro (Wichita State University, USA), “Mental Exposomes and their Microbiomes”

13:00 – 14:30

Lunch (university restaurant Ad Arte) 

14:30 – 16:00

Sammie Jensen (Wageningen University and Research, Netherlands), “Mapping the Ethical Landscape of Exposome Research for Public Health” 

Elian Schure, Aline Potiron, & Abigail Nieves Delgado (Utrecht University, Netherlands), “Microbiome Research in the Local South: Implications for Exposomics “

Federico Boem (Università Niccolò Cusano, Italy) & Ingrid Lamminpää (University of Florence, Italy), “Microbiome, postgenomics and health: from labs to post-labs”

16:00 – 16:30

Coffee break

16:30 – 18:00

Nicola Segata (Università di Trento, Italy), “Metagenomics of the human microbiome: challenges from a systems biology and one-health perspectives”

Tuesday 3 March    

9:30 – 10:30

Rose Gatfield-Jeffries (University of Pittsburgh, USA), “Exposomics, ExWAS, and the representational mismatch in between”

Zdenka Brzovic & Predrag Sustar (University of Rijeka, Croatia), “Understanding Function in Exposomics” 

10:30 – 11:00

Coffee break 

11:00 – 12:30

Robert Meunier (Kunstuniversität Linz, Austria), “Beyond post-genomics: The exposome, the microbiome, and the new era of multimodal biomedicine” 

Sofia Belardinelli (University of Padova/Politecnico di Milano, Italy), “Ecological and Evolutionary Timescales in Conflict: An Evolutionary Explanation for Noncommunicable Diseases”

Iona Walker (University of Helsinki, Finland), “Re-imagining Relations in Postgenomic AMR Research”

12:30 – 13:00

Concluding remarks