Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi
Title (Professor, Assistant Professor, etc.): Professor
PhD Granting Institution: Cornell University
Lab Website Link: http://no%20current%20website%20(updating%20now)
Email Address: asi2@purdue.edu
Office Phone: 7654944653
Primary Training Group: Plant Biology
Research Areas: We are focused on three questions in plant-microbe interactions: 1) How are resistant plants resilient to microbial invasion? 2) How do microbes manipulate host pathways to promote virulence? 3) How do immune responses change across environments? We work across scales from cell to molecular to whole plant and focus primarily on the Ralstonia solanacearum - tomato pathosystem on Earth, and tomato immune responses in spaceflight.
Current Projects: 1) How do pathogen effector proteins manipulate the cytoskeleton to promote pathogen virulence? 2) How do plant immune responses in spaceflight differ from those on Earth? 3) How have plant breeding and the soil environment impacted root anatomy?
Importance of Interdisciplinary Research: Interdisciplinary research is critical for solving biological problems as it enables a comprehensive understanding of complex processes. Many of today’s scientific and societal biological challenges - like plant disease management or food security - are inherently multifaceted. Interdisciplinary approaches enable researchers to address these complexities by integrating different expertise. Such research also promotes innovation and creativity by bringing together different perspectives that enable new insights and enhanced problem-solving. .
Training Group: Plant Biology