CLEMSON UNIVERSITY (South Carolina -USA) - Plant and Environmental Sciences Department, Experiment Station
Dr. Jeffrey Adelberg is a Professor of Horticulture at Clemson University. Since 1990, he has led an active research program developing in vitro systems for high value horticultural crops. His 85 publications on mass propagation and germplasm improvement have focused on liquid culture bioreactors and environmental control; mineral nutrition and experimental design; breeding goals of polyploidy and disease resistance screening; rooting and acclimatization; and materials handling and labor savings. Patented systems and commercialized devices have included membrane supports, vessels and rockers for liquid culture, cutting tools, sunlit photoautotrophic bioreactors, and multiple harvest systems for micro-cuttings. Dr. Adelberg’s work further supports commercial propagator’s by elucidating fundamental propagation principles and training students skilled in the practice.
ZHEJIANG A&F UNIVERSITY (ZAFU-CHINA)
Dr. Fuqiang Cui is a Professor of Silviculture at Zhejiang A&F University. He tries to build a research model for forest studies. The blueberry Vaccinium darrowii , which have small size, early flowering (1 year) were chosen as a model candidate. He has finished the genome sequencing and established the gene transformation method for V. darrowii. Now, he is founded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China to study the cuticle formation of V. darrowii and develop precise breeding for blueberries. He also worked with two other Vaccinium species, bilberry and bogberry, of which the transformation systems were also established. Using bilberry as a bio-factory to produce anthocyanin was recently developed in his lab. He also has a long experience working with Arabidopsis, with topics about ROS signalling, Plant-Botrytis interaction, rhizospheric microorganism and alkaline stress. The results have been published in journals including The Plant Cell, New Phytologist, Molecular Plant, JXB, PCE etc.
University of California, Davis (CA-USA)
Franklin Lewis is a tissue culture and micropropagation specialist at the University of California, Davis. His work is primarily on developing and optimizing protocols for micropropagation and generating target tissues for gene editing and transformation projects. His work supports a wide variety of researchers across several woody tree crops including Pistachio, Walnut, Pears and Hazelnuts. He also helps provide mentorship, training, and guidance to students learning tissue culture and micropropagation techniques.
INSTITUTE OF BIOLOGY LEIDEN, LEIDEN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Offringa is Professor of Plant Developmental Genetics at Leiden University. His research on transport polarity of the plant hormone auxin was awarded with the C.J. Kok prize, and his research on developmental phase transitions recently led to the identification of a new regulatory pathway in plant longevity and wood formation. The combined expertise on auxin and developmental phase transitions allowed his team to unravel the role of endogenous auxin in somatic embryogenesis, and to show why the synthetic auxin 2,4-D is so effective in plant regeneration and how this knowledge can lead to improved regeneration protocols. Apart from ongoing auxin-related projects, the current research in the Offringa lab concerns plant longevity-related topics such as polycarpy, senescence and woodiness, and understanding and improving plant regeneration and transformation.
Dr. Offringa chairs the board of the Dutch research school for Experimental Plant Sciences (EPS) and he is also chair of the Society for Plant biotechnology and Tissue culture (SVPW). He has had and still has coordinating roles in consortia funded by the Dutch Research Council (e.g. StressAuxEmb, LettuceKnow, WoodLig), and is in the editorial board of Molecular Plant. The international character and high level of research in his group is illustrated by collaborations with excellent research groups in the Netherlands and abroad and by high-impact publications (e.g. Science, Nature Plants and Comm., Current Biol., Plant Cell, Plant Journal) and patent applications.
University of Pisa – Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment
Dr. Laura Pistelli is an Associate professor of Plant Physiology at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the University of Pisa. Her research is focused on the identification of specific natural metabolites produced by aromatic and medicinal plants grown in different physiological conditions. The use of in vitro cultures (organ tissues, cellular biomass, hairy roots, small bioreactors) offered a valid tool for optimizing plant proliferation and metabolite production under controlled conditions. She produced several publications to indicate the presence of specific compounds as antioxidants, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceutical products, isolated from various organs (leaves, roots, flowers, fruits, seeds) and quantified with modern technologies.
UNIVERSITY OF TIRANA, ALBANIA - BIOTECHNOLOGY & GENETICS SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH UNIT, ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF ALBANIA
Valbona Sota il Associate Professor and member of the academic staff of the Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Tirana since 2008. Her teaching experience involves lecturing ‘Plant Cell and Tissue Cultures’ and ‘Plant Conservation Biotechnology’ at BSc and MSc Programs near the University of Tirana. Dr. Sota’s scientific research focuses on virus-free plant production and innovative systems to improve micropropagation and conservation of economically important fruit tree species; experience also gained through active involvement in national and international networks related to plant biotechnology. She has been an active collaborator in about 18 international and national projects, co-author in 3 monographs and 3 academic textbooks, author of scientific papers, and has also participated in over 50 national and international Scientific Conferences. Dr. Sota is also a Scientific Collaborator of “The Biotechnology and Genetics Unit” and a Member of the Commission for Biology, Agriculture and Veterinary of the Academy of Sciences of Albania.