Head of Group
Unit: Environmental and Industrial Biotechnologies
Group: Microbial biotechnology
Social links: ORCID / Linkedin / Scholar google
Languages: Polish, English, Spanish, French
I am a biotechnologist with a strong background in microbial community dynamics and functional analysis in anaerobic environments. My research focuses on harnessing microbial consortia for sustainable biotechnological applications, particularly in bioenergy production and biowaste valorisation. Over the past decade, I have led multidisciplinary projects exploring microbial strategies for biomass degradation, with a recent focus on anaerobic fungi and their role in complex lignocellulose and bioplastic breakdown. As a Senior Lead Scientists at the LIST, I am committed to advancing microbial resource exploitation through collaborative, impact-driven research. I obtained my PhD from the University of Liège in 2012. Since then, I have been working at the LIST (formerly CRP-Gabriel Lippmann), where I was recently appointed Group Leader of the Microbial Biotechnology group. Throughout my career, I have developed a strong international research network through visiting appointments at the University of Gdansk, Ruhr University Bochum, and the University of São Paulo. Most recently, from mid-2023 to mid-2024, I was a visiting researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where I focused on anaerobic fungi, regarded as largely underexposed species of huge biotechnological potential.
As leader of the Microbial Biotechnology team, my primary duty is to define the scientific and strategic direction of the group and to oversee the activities of researchers, technology engineers, and Master’s and PhD students. Together, we form a highly specialised, interdisciplinary team working at the interface between fundamental microbial science and applied biotechnology. Our activities are designed to both advance scientific knowledge and translate research outcomes into practical solutions that address concrete needs of the biotechnology, bioenergy, and bio-based materials sectors. I am responsible for coordinating large national and international research consortia, bringing together academic partners, public stakeholders, and industrial actors. This includes project design, consortium building, scientific coordination, and the alignment of research objectives with societal and industrial challenges. A central aspect of my role is to foster strong, long-term collaborations with universities, research organisations, and companies, and to actively seek new partnerships that enable co-development, technology transfer, and innovation. In line with LIST’s mission as a Research and Technology Organization, I am strongly engaged in applied research and innovation. I regularly collaborate with private-sector partners to develop joint research projects, validate technologies at relevant scales, and support the translation of microbial biotechnology into industrial and environmental applications. Our team is fully open to collaboration with both academia and industry, and we actively welcome opportunities to jointly develop ambitious research, innovation, and training initiatives.
Cochereau B., Herold M., Silva R.K., Zorzan S., Calusinska M., Villas-Boas S.G.
Bioresource Technology, vol. 442, pp. 133681, 2026
Tsachidou B., Calusinska M., Hissler C., Gennen J., Daigneux B., Piutti S., Laflotte A., George I., Delfosse P.
Gcb Bioenergy, vol. 17, n° 7, art. no. e70050, 2025
Klimek D., Herold M., Vitorino I.R., Dedova Z., Lemaigre S., Roussel J., Goux X., Lage O.M., Calusinska M.
FEMS Microbiology Ecology, vol. 101, n° 4, art. no. fiaf025, 2025
Klimek D., Lage O.M., Calusinska M.
Frontiers in Microbiology, vol. 16, art. no. 1579219, 2025
Klimek D., Herold M., Calusinska M.
BMC Genomics, vol. 25, n° 1, art. no. 523, 2024
