Andrea is working on Bacterial canker disease on sweet cherry (Prunus avium, L.) caused by some pathovars in the Pseudomonas syringae species complex. Mainly, focusing on elucidating the importance of effector proteins and phytotoxins for Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae pathogenicity. She has a strong interest in molecular plant-pathogen interactions and how they evolve over time.
Vivien's role include the general coordination of the Eastern Agri-Tech Hub, administrative support and the arrangement of meetings or events, as well as being the first point of interaction for anyone wishing to use the site or interact with other SMEs and Hub users.
Part of the Crop Science and Production Systems team at East Malling Matteo's research includes pest and disease control in soft fruit and organic farming systems.
William's role includes setting up experimental areas, both at NIAB EMR and on commercial grower trials, and installing sensor/loggers for precision growing.
David is a second year PhD student, under the SoCoBio DTP programme, whose current research focuses on understanding and improving the nutritional quality of fruit and vegetable, within the wider context of improving food system sustainability and micronutrient security.
He is particularly interested in the application of stress conditioning as a means of increasing nutrient accumulation in strawberry, as well as subsequent associations between nutritional quality and crop tolerance of pre- and post-harvest stresses.
Katie has worked at East Malling as a strawberry breeder since 2016, including developing new varieties under the East Malling Strawberry Breeding Club (EMSBC) initiative and for Malling Fruits. The focus of the programme is genetic improvement and varietal development of the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa).
Sharon provides support for many of the technical aspects of the strawberry breeding programmes at East Malling.
In addition, she manages the micropropagation (meristem dissection) of key lines produced from the programme and performs susceptibility screenings for Phytophthora cactorum (crown rot), Podosphaera aphanis (powdery mildew) and Verticillium dahlia (verticillium wilt).
Camila has a BSc in Biology and a MSc in Plant Breeding. Her research interest include molecular genetics and genome editing for precision crop breeding and she is currently carrying out a full-time BBSRC PhD studentship in Crop Sciences at the University of Reading, based at NIAB East Malling.
Camila's PhD project is focused on understanding the genetic control of the everbearing trait in the cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) by using gene editing, and to further develop reliable markers for the selection of optimised everbearing habit.
Scott’s role is to raise the profile of the research and commercial activities at East Malling and to improve collaboration between the researchers and the fruit and wider horticulture industry. This includes the activities of the Growing Kent & Medway programme.
