PhD defence by Giulia Zarantonello

On Tuesday, 27 January 2026, at 13:00, Giulia Zarantonello from DTU Aqua will defend her PhD thesis, “Application of integrative molecular approaches to the study of fish pathogens in aquaculture. Microbial community dynamics, pathogen detection and identification using environmental nucleic acids and sequencing: case studies on IHNV, VHSV and MLO.”

You can follow the defence online on Zoom via this link or in person at DTU Lyngby Campus, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, building 341, auditorium 22.

Giulia Zarantonello’s PhD thesis investigates how microbiomes shape disease in fish in aquaculture. The microbiome consists of the communities of microorganisms living in and around the fish.

Traditionally, research has focused on “one pathogen, one disease”, but infections often involve complex interactions among pathogens, other microbes, the host, and the environment, as summarized in the “pathobiome” concept. Gaining insight into these interactions deepens our understanding of infectious disease in aquaculture and offers new tools for monitoring and managing fish health.

In her research, Giulia Zarantonello has applied multi-organism detection through next generation sequencing and environmental DNA/RNA analysis to improve early diagnosis in rainbow trout. She has focused on Novirhabdoviruses as well as red mark syndrome and a Midichloria-like organism, which she revealed to belong to a previously unknown genus through metagenomic sequencing.

Examiners

• Senior Researcher Sanni-Leea Aalto, DTU Aqua (chair)
• Associate Professor Morten Tønsberg Limborg, University of Copenhagen
• Senior Researcher Duncan Colquhoun, Norwegian Veterinary Institute, Norway

Chair of defence

• Senior Researcher Cornelia Jaspers, DTU Aqua

Supervisors

• Principal Supervisor: Senior Researcher Argelia Cuenca Navarro, DTU Aqua
• Co-supervisor: Professor Lone Madsen, DTU Aqua
• Co-supervisor: Associate Professor Thomas Nordhal Petersen, National Food Institute, DTU

Learn more

• Read the popular science summary of Giulia Zarantonello’s PhD thesis

A copy of the thesis is available for reading at DTU Aqua. Please contact PhD Coordinator Susan Zumbach Johannesen, szjo@aqua.dtu.dk