Message from the President 2025
Dear Members of the Groupe Polyphénols,
The year 2024 has been a very busy and productive one for the Groupe Polyphenols.
A Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry virtual special issue “International Conference on Polyphenols (ICP2023)” has followed the ICP2023 of Nantes. Prof Stéphane Quideau is the Guest Editor in Chief of this issue. Upon acceptance, the manuscripts were instantly released to facilitate swift publication. This issue comprises 24 scientific articles including papers from the plenary speakers, the recipients of the Groupe Polyphenols Scientific Prize and of the Ragaï Ibrahim prize, few oral communications and posters of the ICP2023, and few external contributors like speakers at the Webinars in Polyphenols Research. The issue is now complete and an internet link will be available soon.
The Webinars in Polyphenols Research are now well established in the landscape of scientific activities of the Groupe Polyphénols. Our colleague and Vice-President Prof Aude Watrelot has organized three Webinars in the area of the biogenesis and biosynthesis of polyphenols in plants, polyphenols in nutrition and health, and the metabolomics of polyphenols. This gave the opportunity to our young colleagues David Ma, Catherine Dadmun, and Ricardo Dias, to present their recent work. As usual, all the webinars have been recorded by Prof Juha-Pekka Salminen, and are accessible free of charge on YouTube. In case you missed any, you can always review there the presentations from our young researchers and senior speakers, including Dr Nicolas Sommerer, Prof De-Yu Xie, and Prof Jess Reed.
The first webinar of 2025 was held 18th February, on the topic of “Chemistry of Lignins in Plant Cells”. At this event, we had the pleasure to welcome Prof Norman Lewis, and Dr Leonard Blaschek, the recipient of the 2023 Ragaï Ibrahim Prize.
Prof Richard Blackburn, alongside fellow board members of Groupe Polyphenols – Dr Kevin Davis, Prof Nuno Mateus, Prof Dr Heidi Halbwirth, and Dr Erika Salas, have been actively involved in setting up the 2024 anthocyanin workshop. The conference was organized in Leeds (UK) by Prof Richard Blackburn, from 17-19 September, including the topic of betalains, and becoming the International Workshop on Anthocyanins & Betalains 2024 (IWA&B 2024). There was around 100 participants and 30 oral presentations have been delivered. The accepted abstracts will be published as e-vol. 3 of “Polyphenols Communications”. Considering the success of this meeting, next IWA&B will be scheduled in 2026. In the future, we have the objective to alternate ICP and IWA&B meetings, offering a polyphenols-oriented meeting every year.
This year our major event will be the ICP2025. It is organized by Prof Juha-Pekka Salminen in Turku (Finland) from 7th to 10th July 2025. The first announcement has been sent mid-November 2024, the second January 2025 and the third end of February 2025. I urge you to promptly register and submit your abstract, as these options are already available on the ICP2025 website. Numerous grants are accessible for PhD candidates and post-doctoral researchers/research associates. I urge you to submit your applications GP Grants . Upon registration for the ICP2025, members of the Groupe Polyphenols can enjoy a discounted rate. I highly recommend considering a two-year membership Become a member of the GP, which will provide you with reduced fees for both upcoming events: ICP 2025 and IWA&B 2026.
We have decided to stop using X as communication tool. In contrast, I strongly encourage you to regularly visit the Website of the Groupe Polyphénols, and our profiles on YouTube, Instagram, and our new Linkedin page, recently created by Prof Cedric Saucier. Job offers can be posted on this Linkedin page.
I hope I shall have the opportunity to interact with you in 2025, either at the occasion of one of our online webinars, or physically in Turku at the ICP 2025.
Sincerely,
Denis Barron, PhD
President of the Groupe Polyphénols