Frédéric Borges

Frédéric Borges is an Associate Professor in Food Microbiology at the University of Lorraine, France, working within the National School of Agronomy and Food Industries (ENSAIA) at the Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory (LIBio). With his HDR (Habilitation to Direct Research) obtained in 2019, he leads research in microbial ecosystem engineering for food applications.

• University: University of Lorraine
• School: National School of Agronomy and Food Industries (ENSAIA)
• Department: Biomolecular Engineering Laboratory (LIBio)
• Position: Associate Professor (Maître de conférences HDR)

Borges holds a Doctorate in Molecular Physiology and Genetics from Université Henri Poincaré (2005) and completed his HDR in 2019. His academic journey includes a postdoc position at the University of Ulm, Germany (2005-2007) focusing on Streptococcus agalactiae pathogenesis, followed by a temporary teaching/research position (ATER) at University of Lorraine on cheese microbial diversity (2007-2008).

His research focuses on engineering fermented food ecosystems, with primary application in biopreservation - a sustainable approach to increase food safety and extend shelf life. Borges' team has developed high-throughput phenotyping approaches to study microbial behavior in multidimensional space, aiming to create food microbiomes resistant to colonization by undesirable microorganisms. His work spans genomics, microbial diversity analysis (using MLST, metabarcoding), high-throughput screening, and data analysis with R programming.

Analysis of Borges' recent publications reveals a strong focus on microbial community engineering for food safety applications. His research demonstrates how understanding microbial competition networks (particularly with Carnobacterium maltaromaticum) can lead to effective biopreservation strategies against pathogens like Listeria monocytogenes. Recent work explores serial fermentation dynamics, invert emulsion systems for microbial propagation, and the relationship between cheese rind characteristics and microbial communities. His approach integrates omics technologies with ecological principles to engineer food microbiomes.

Borges has supervised multiple PhD students including Amandine Martin, Chloé Gapp, Alexis Dijamentiuk, and Faustine Gomand. His research involves collaborations with food industry partners through CIFRE theses, demonstrating practical applications of his work. He has developed methodologies for high-throughput screening of bacterial strains, genomic analysis of food-related bacteria, and innovative approaches to microbial community propagation.

His laboratory at LIBio focuses on microbial ecosystem engineering, with particular emphasis on creating robust food microbiomes through understanding and manipulating microbial interactions. The team works with dairy products, fermented foods, and develops methods to characterize and engineer microbial communities for improved food safety and quality.