Laura Medina-Puche

Department of Plant Biochemistry, Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP), Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany

Dr. Laura Medina-Puche received her BSc in Biology at the University of Córdoba, Spain, where she also earned her MSc and PhD in Biosciences and Agri-food Sciences on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the ripening of strawberry fruit. After a brief Post-Doctoral stay at the Institute of Plant Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMCP; Valencia, Spain) studying the perception of the defense-related phytohormone salicylic acid and plant defense responses, Laura joined the group of Prof. Dr. Rosa Lozano-Duran at the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology (PSC; Shanghai, China). There she developed a project on plant-pathogen interactions in which, using viruses as probes, described a novel pathway that answered the long-standing question of how the information of extracellular threats is transmitted to the chloroplasts, central players in immunity, a paradigm-shifting that opens new avenues for investigating plant-pathogen interaction. Laura is currently an Associate Scientist in the lab of Prof. Dr. Lozano-Duran at the Center for Molecular Biology of Plants (ZMBP) in the University of Tübingen, Germany and her research focuses on the plant perception of geminiviruses and its manipulation by these pathogens. 

José S. Rufián

Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea 'La Mayora', Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Depto. Biología Celular, Genética y Fisiología, Málaga, Spain

Dr. José S. Rufián received his PhD at the University of Málaga, focused on the characterization at cellular and molecular level of the Type III Secretion System (T3SS) and Type III Effectors (T3Es) in the plant-pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas syringae. During his postdoctoral stage at the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology (PSC), Dr. José developed a project on the characterization of the interaction between plants and the soil-born pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, focusing on the metabolic changes that result in either virulence activity or immune response. José is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at the University of Málaga and is developing his research project at the Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora” (IHSM) in Spain.