Plant Biologist Interviews

Philippa Borrill is a Group Leader at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK. The Borrill group focuses on understanding the wheat genome to improve the nutritional value of wheat grain. Philippa was awarded the SEB’s 2022 President’s Medal for the Plant Section.

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Jake Brunkard is an Assistant Professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA. The Brunkard Lab investigates the evolution and regulation of metabolism in plants, focusing on the TARGET OF RAPAMYCIN signaling network. Jake is a Fellow of The Plant Journal.

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Alon Can’ani is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Food Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. With a background in secondary metabolism and floral volatile chemistry, he now studies flavour chemistry of cereals. Alon is a former Features Editor for The Plant Journal.

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Yasin Dagdas is a Group Leader at the Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Vienna, Austria. The Dagdas Lab explores autophagy-mediated cellular quality control mechanisms in plants. Yasin was awarded the SEB’s 2023 President’s Medal for the Plant Section.

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Bert De Rybel is a Professor at Ghent University and Group Leader at the VIB center for Plant Systems Biology in Ghent, Belgium. He leads the Vascular Development Lab which aims to integrate developmental, cell and evolutionary biology to understand how plant vascular tissues develop.

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Verónica González-Doblas is a research group leader in the Department of Cellular Biology, Genetics and Physiology at the Málaga University Institute for Mediterranean and Subtropical Horticulture “La Mayora” (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Spain. Verónica is a Fellow of The Plant Journal.

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Ming-Yang Ho is an Assistant Professor and Group Leader at National Taiwan University. The Ho Lab studies cyanobacteria, particularly their environmental diversity and abilities to withstand extreme environments, as well as their photosynthetic mechanisms, and potential practical applications.

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Estrella Luna-Díez is an Associate Professor in Plant Pathology at the University of Birmingham, UK. She leads a research group which investigates plant immunity at the molecular, genetic, biochemical and epigenetic levels, with the ultimate aim of improving plant disease resistance.

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Sarah Raffan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the SALK Institute in California, working to generate wheat with improved root traits and increased carbon sequestration capabilities. In this interview, Sarah reflects on her former role as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK. In this position, Sarah focussed on generating low acrylamide wheat via CRISPR/Cas9, and on trialling these lines in the field.

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Benjamin Schwessinger is a group leader at the Australian National University, Canberra Australia. His main interest is in plant-fungal interactions, particularly rust fungi important to Australian agriculture and ecosystems.

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Haim Treves is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Plant Sciences and Food Security at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. He leads the Algal Metabolic Diversity Lab which studies photosynthetic metabolism in algae, and its implications for photosynthetic efficiency and growth. Haim is a Features Editor for The Plant Journal.

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Berkley Walker is an Assistant Professor in Plant Biology at Michigan State University, USA. He leads a research lab which focusses on understanding how photosynthesis interacts with plant metabolism, with the aim of developing more efficient and nutritious crops.

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Weiwei Wen is a Professor in the College of Horticulture and Forestry at Huazhong Agricultural University, China. Her research mainly focuses on plant genetics, systems biology, and crop improvement. Weiwei is an Editor for Journal of Experimental Botany.

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