On February 18, 2025, BioData.pt held the first official meeting of its Microbiome Community, bringing together researchers from institutions across Portugal engaged in microbiome-related research.
The online session began with a round of introductions, followed by a presentation of the community’s goals by Luciana Peixoto (BioData.pt) and Gracinda Sanches Fernandes (Instituto Superior Técnico), who jointly introduced the vision for a collaborative, standards-driven national network aligned with ELIXIR Europe’s Microbiome Community.
The meeting also featured short presentations on citizen science in microbiome research, shared by Isabel Gordo (GIMM), and a call for contributions to the “Human microbiome in health and disease” article collection by Ana Santos Almeida (GIMM). Plans were made for future meetings, including scientific presentations and community voting on coordination roles.
This first session marked an important step in structuring a national network for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and alignment with European initiatives in microbiome data and research.