RESEARCH PROFILE

My main research interest is plant signaling mechanisms mediating responses to changing environmental conditions. I am particularly interested in plant disease resistance and using systems biology approaches to unravel how plants respond to pathogen infection, and the regulatory networks underlying the defence response. Ultimately I want to understand the interaction at a molecular level to drive strategies to enhance disease resistance of crop plants.

The lab generates and integrates large-scale genome-wide data sets, and uses and designs systems biology tools to analyse this data to further our understanding of plant defence. Elucidating the gene regulatory networks that underlie complex biological processes is challenging, even more so when dealing with an interaction between two organisms. However, accurate network models will play a vital role in identifying key defence genes and, more importantly, predicting how to enhance disease resistance. We are also investigating the influence of daily light and temperature cycles on plant stress responses and the mechanisms underlying these rhythmic effects.

Much of my work focuses on the interaction between the model plant Arabidopsis and fungal and bacterial pathogens. We are also translating our wrk into crops to facilitate breeding of resistance to important horticultural pathogens.

Research Themes: Food Security; Infection Biology

BACKGROUND

B.Sc. Microbiology, University of Bristol 1991
D.Phil Plant Science, University of Oxford 1995
Postdoctoral Fellow, Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell University 1995-1998
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town 1999 - 2006
Associate Professor, University of Warwick 2006 -

Journal of Experimental Botany, Handling Editor
Society of Experimental Biology, Plant Biotic Interactions Group Convenor
Director of the Midlands Integrative Bioscience Training Partnership