Speakers
Speakers confirmed so far in alphabetical order of their first name. More speakers will be added. Check back!
Additional speakers will be selected based on the abstracts submitted by participants.
Alejandra Huerta
Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Presentation: All is fair in infection and war: Survival, persistence, and competition mechanisms in plant pathogenic bacteria
Website: https://cals.ncsu.edu/entomology-and-plant-pathology/people/ahuerta/
Alessandra Alves de Souza
Scientific researcher, Plant Pathology and Biotechnology, Citrus Research Center "Sylvio Moreira"/Agronomic Institute – IAC, Cordeiropolis, SP, Brazil.
Presentation: Biotechnology Approaches to Control Citrus-Bacterial Diseases Based on the Knowledge of Plant-Pathogen Interactions.
Website: https://bv.fapesp.br/en/pesquisador/2754/alessandra-alves-de-souza/
Alex Weisberg
Assistant Professor, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
Presentation: Investigating the diverse roles and contributions of mobile genetic elements in plant-microbe interactions
Website: https://weisberglab.com/
Antonet Svircev
Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Vineland Station, Ontario, Canada L0R 2E0
Presentation: Development and field implementation of bacteriophage biological for control of fire blight
Website: https://profils-profiles.science.gc.ca/en/profile/dr-antonet-svircev
Cara Haney
Associate Professor, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Presentation: Order among chaos: predicting outcomes of plant-pathogen-microbiome interactions
Website: https://haneylab.com/
Carrie Brady
Senior lecturer, University of the West of England, Bristol, United Kingdom
Presentation: Taxonomy, identification and microbial interactions of woodland/forest bacteria
Eric Newberry
Molecular Biologist, Plant Pathogen Confirmatory Diagnostics Laboratory, USDA-APHIS-PPQ-S&T, Laurel, MD, USA
Presentation: Development, validation, and implementation of molecular diagnostic tools for the detection of federally regulated plant pathogens to safeguard US agriculture.
Gabriele Berg
Prof. Dr. rer. nat., Institute of Environmental Biotechnology (Head), Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), Graz, AUSTRIA
Department of Microbiome Biotechnology (Head), Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), & University of Potsdam, Potsdam, GERMANY
Presentation: Examining the microbiome through the lens of the one health concept
Website: https://www.atb-potsdam.de/en/about-us/team/staff-members/person/gabriele-berg
Jian-Min Zhou
Professor, Yazhouwan National Laboratory, Sanya, China
Presentation: An ancient defense molecule dampening bacterial virulence
Website: http://english.genetics.cas.cn/en_sourcedb_genetics/people/peop/faculty/202310/t20231031_439827.html
Hanareia Ehau-Taumaunu
Post-doctoral Scientist, Plant and Food Research & Bioprotection Aotearoa, Auckland, New Zealand
Presentation: Manipulating phyllosphere communities for disease suppression
Heribert Hirt
Professor, Center for Desert Agriculture, King Abdullah University of Sciences and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Presentation: Desert microbes for enhanced salt, water and heat resilience in agriculture.
Website: https://www.kaust.edu.sa/en/study/faculty/heribert-hirt
Isabelle Laforest-Lapointe
Assistant Professor, Université de Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada
Presentation: Plant-microbe interactions in the Anthropocene
Website: https://www.laforestlab.com/ and https://isabellelaforestlapointe.wordpress.com/
Kevin Hockett
Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, State Park, PA, USA
Presentation: Bacterial Competition within the Plant Host Environment
Website: https://www.hockettlab.com/
Kevin Lahmers
Clinical Professor in Anatomic Pathology, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Presentation: Common opportunities and challenges in using genomics and metagenomics for pathogen identification in plants and animals
Website: https://vetmed.vt.edu/people/faculty/lahmers-kevin.html
Leena Tripathi
Director of Eastern Africa Hub, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Presentation: Genome editing for plant disease resistance
Linda Kinkel
Professor, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Presentation: Plant microbiomes: Food fights, communication, and microbial home range
Lucy Moleleki
Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Presentation: Insights into Pectobacterium spp versatile virulence tool box
Website: https://www.fabinet.up.ac.za/index.php/people-profile?profile=993
Marc Valls Matheu
Full Professor in Genetics, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Presentation: Ralstonia solanacearum adaptation to life inside and outside of the plant
Michelle Hulin
Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Presentation: How do prophage influence virulence gene repertoires in Pseudomonas syringae
Neha Potnis
Associate Professor, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA
Presentation: Eco-evolutionary dynamics of pathogen populations during host adaptation
Nian Wang
Mr. and Mrs. J. R. (RIP) Graves Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Biotechnology
Presentation: Transgene-free CRISPR genome editing for improving citrus disease resistance
Website: https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/people/faculty/nian-wang/
Prabhu Patil
Principal Scientist, CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (CSIR-IMTECH), Chandigarh, India
Presentation: Deep taxonogenomic and population based insights into hidden world and variant life-styles of Xanthomonas
Website: https://www.imtech.res.in/contact/staff/dr-prabhu-b-patil/125
Quan Zeng
Agricultural Scientist, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, CT, USA
Presentation: Quorum sensing mediated bacterial interspecies communication promotes plant growth
Website: https://portal.ct.gov/CAES/ABOUT-CAES/Staff-Biographies/Quan-Zeng
Sarah R. Lowder
Assistant Professor of Horticulture and Extension Viticulture Specialist, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 USA
Presentation: Communicating to stakeholders when there is a common plant disease problem
Website: https://hort.caes.uga.edu/people/faculty/sarah-lowder.html
Saul Burdman
Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel
Presentation: Challenges in elucidating the arsenal of type III effectors of Acidovorax citrulli and its connection with host preference
Sheng Yang He
Benjamin E. Powell Distinguished Professor, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
Presentation: Toward understanding plant - pathogen - microbiome interactions
Website: https://www.thehelab.org/
Sherif Sherif
Associate Professor, Virginia Tech, Winchester, VA, USA
Presentation: RNAi-based biological fungicides for managing fruit rot diseases
Website:https://www.arec.vaes.vt.edu/arec/alson-h-smith/people/sherif.html
Stephen Taerum
Postdoctoral scientist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Presentation: Exploring the impact of protist microbiomes on plant health
Website: https://writetolindsaytrip.wixsite.com/triplett/lab-members
Steve Lindow
Emeritus Prof., Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Presentation: Disease control by pathogen confusion
Website: https://plantandmicrobiology.berkeley.edu/profile/lindow
Tessa Pierce Ward
Assistant Researcher, University of California, Davis , California, USA
Presentation: Real-time pathogen sequence search with sourmash branchwater
Website: bluegenes.github.io
Tiffany Lowe-Power
Assistant Professor, Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis , California, USA
Presentation: Something cool about Ralstonia
Tomislav Cernava
Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Southampton
Presentation: Plant microbiome engineering for improved disease resistance
Website: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/62bpnm/doctor-tomislav-cernava
Trevor Charles
Professor, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada
Presentation: Enrichment for novel bacterial isolates with potential as biofertilizers for soil-less controlled environment agriculture
Website: https://uwaterloo.ca/biology/profile/tcharles
Veronica Roman Reyna
Assistant Professor of Global Change Pathology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA
Presentation: Using genomics and metagenomics as tools for diagnosing plant diseases and studying their spread
Vittoria Catara
Associate Professor in Plant Pathology, Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Presentation: Friends or adversaries, Pseudomonas in the tomato plant rhizosphere bacterial communities
Yilmaz Balci
USDA- APHIS, Pest Exclusion and Imports Program. Riverdale, Maryland, USA
Presentation: Addressing high risk pathogens in commercial plant trade