speakers
| Prof. Dominique Van Der Straeten |
| Folate biofortification of crop plants | |
| University of Ghent, Belgium |
| Prof. Herve Vanderschuren |
| Hidden Hunger: Seeking solutions with Staple Crops | |
| University of Liege, Belgium |
| Prof. Dirk Bosch |
| Plants as a platform to produce therapeutic glycoprotein | |
| Wageningen UR, The Netherlands |
| Prof. Judith Rollinger |
| Multipotent Natural Leads against Respiratory Tract Infections | |
| Univerity of Vienna, Austria |
| Dr. Annette Pronk |
| A mass balance approach to quantify interception of fine dust (PM10) by trees. | |
| Wageningen UR, The Netherlands |
| Dr. Jean-Paul Schwitzguebel |
| Phytoremediation of contaminated soils: facts and challenges | |
| EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Dr. Karin Metzlaff |
| What and how can plant science contribute to society? How can you get involved? | |
| Executive Director the European Plant Science Organisation |
|
| Prof. Dominique Van Der Straeten is a full professor at Ghent University and research director of the Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology. She began her academic career working in ethylene biosynthesis in tomato and Arabidopsis, followed by researching plant stress using remote imaging. She further expanded her research interests working on signal crosstalk of ethylene with other hormones and light. In 2003, aiming to apply basic science to solve societal problems, she initiated research on folate biofortification of crop plants in 2003 leading to a major publication on folate bio-fortification in rice (Blancquaert et al., 2015 Nature Biotechnology). |
| University of Ghent, Belgium | |
| close |
|
| Prof. Herve Vanderschuren holds a MSc in Crop Genetics from AgroParisTech (France). He obtained his PhD in Plant Biotechnology at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He has led a research team focusing on crop biotechnology at ETH Zurich and has recently been appointed as Professor of Plant Genetics at University of Liège (Belgium). Over the last 10 years, his research activities have been focused on the study of crop responses to biotic and abiotic stresses as well as on the implementation of tools to select and develop cassava and rice with improved traits. Several cassava and rice accessions with increased disease resistance, improved nutritional quality and prolonged shelf life traits have been developed by his team. His group has recently developed and field tested a vitamin B6 enriched rice variety (Li et al, 2015, Nature Biotechnology) and is working on the biofortification of other micronutrients in rice and cassava. Prof. Vanderschurens team is also actively involved in technology transfer to laboratories in Africa, Asia and South America. |
| University of Liege, Belgium | |
| close |
|
| Prof. Dirk Bosch is an expert concerning bioactive compounds, biochemical pathways, biotechnology and biochemistry. His research group at Wageningen University in the Netherlands is interested in how plant derived substances can serve as medicine, specifically as anti-cancer compounds. Besides this, they are also investigating in a novel type of potato starch, which cannot be fully decomposed. This would be interesting for diet products. Investigation in highly decomposable starch is carried out as well in order to improve animal feed. In another unconventional project they are looking into plant-derived molecules as building blocks for recyclable bottles and for replacement of plastic bottles. |
| Wageningen UR, The Netherlands | |
| close |
|
| Prof. Judith Rollinger is a professor of Pharmacognosy/Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Vienna. After her PhD in Pharmacognosy of the University of Innsbruck dealing with crystal polymorphism, she extended her studies to the fields of phytochemistry, ethnopharmacology, and molecular modelling. Her current research focuses on the interdisciplinary field of integrating computational techniques in pharmacognostic research as strategy for the discovery of natural lead structures for treating viral infections, metabolic syndrome and inflammation. Publications resulting from her research appear in highly ranked international journals, as book contributions, and patents. |
| Univerity of Vienna, Austria | |
| close |
|
| Dr. Annette Pronk received her Master degree in Agronomy and Crop Science in 1990 and obtained her doctorate in 2004 on the topic Irrigation and nitrogen use efficiency of Thuja occidentalis grown on sandy soils, both at Wageningen University (NED). Dr. Pronk is conducting applied research to enhance farming systems for over 25 years and published several articles and reports. Since 2010, she researches the potential of trees to intercept fine dust particles and thereby enhance local air quality. |
| Wageningen UR, The Netherlands | |
| close |
|
| Dr. Jean-Paul Schwitzguebel is a plant and microbial biochemist. After obtaining his PhD at the University of Geneva, he spent postdoctoral time at the ETH Zurich, the Imperial College London and the University of Neuchatel, before he became a senior scientist at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). His research focuses especially on phytoremediation and the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater and contaminated sites. |
| EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland | |
| close |
|
| Dr. Karin Metzlaff has been the executive director of EPSO since its creation in 2001. She works with the EPSO members and other partners to promote plant research in the European science and science policy arena by overseeing the EPSO Working Groups, providing advice and recommendations to politicians at European, multinational and national level. Karin represents EPSO in the Initiative for Science in Europe, ISE and the Global Plant Council (GPC). She is a member of the European Commission High Level Steering Board on Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability and of the Steering Council and Executive Committee of the European Technology Platform Plants for the Future and. Karin is responsible for all member, observer and association relations of EPSO. |
| Executive Director the European Plant Science Organisation | |
| close |