Preface

In 2018 Yakult in Europe held our last International Yakult Symposium (IYS). While 2020 would have been the year where we would have celebrated the 10^th edition of this IYS series, the corona virus decided otherwise.

Now four years later, it is with great pleasure to welcome you to this 10^th IYS edition, in the wonderful city of Milan.

We have chosen the title “Microbiota and Probiotics: Chances and Challenges!” for this symposium, as research in the field of the gut microbiota is progressing at an ever increasing speed, yielding results that support the enormous potential of microbiota driven interventions with pre- and probiotics, but, as always in science, with new knowledge raising new questions, new challenges.

During this 10^th International Yakult Symposium we will turn the spectacular National Science Museum Leonardo da Vinci into a learning and discussion platform, where different aspects of probiotics and microbiota within gut health will be explored: from longevity to gut brain axis, passing through microbiome diversity. In a beautiful historical setting that is honouring incredible scientific developments from the past, we intend to discuss the science of the future: how new gut microbiome insights can help us continue to pioneer efficient and safe interventions, or how to overcome the remaining questions related to probiotic modes of action, interindividual variation, or changes of the microbiota at old age…

We look really forward to welcoming you in Milan to fuel the discussion and present your own research poster!

See you on October 13 and 14!

All Yakult European science members