Didier Cabanes obtained a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier in 2000, on the identification and characterization of Sinorhizobium meliloti genes regulated during symbiosis with Medicago sativa under the supervision of J. Batut, INRA, Toulouse. He then made a Post-Doc in the laboratory of Pascale Cossart at Institut Pasteur Paris, studying the mechanisms of virulence of Listeria monocytogenes. In 2005 he joined the IBMC (Porto, Portugal) to create the Group of Molecular Microbiology (GM2). He is currently i3S Vice-Director and Coordinator of the i3S Host Response and Interaction Research Program. He is Member of the Scientific Board of the MCbiology PhD Program. He is Editor for Research in Microbiology and Toxins. Using Listeria monocytogenes as model organism of intracellular parasitism, his current research aims to decipher how bacterial pathogens organize their surface and control gene expression to promote virulence, for the development of new antimicrobial approaches.