Emilia López-Solailla

BS degree in Biological Sciences (1994), from Complutense University and PhD in Biological Sciences (1998) from Polytechnic University of Madrid. Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology since 2010 at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Principal investigator of the Plant Pathogenic Bacteria Group at the Centre for Biotechnology and Plant Genomics (UPM-INIA) established in 2008.
Scientific expertise focused in the research area bacteria-plant interaction. During the first phase of her scientific carrier, her contribution was focused on the study of resistance mechanisms to plant defense in the plant pathogenic model Dickeya dadantii. During a postdoctoral stage (2001-2002) at Cornell University (Department of Plant Pathology, Dr. Collmer´s lab), she was part of the initiative responsible for carrying out pioneering studies on bacterial functional genomics of plant pathogens, expanding her experience to the pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato. Since then, she has been involved in the study of the early stages of infection in both bacterial models. Likewise, and under collaborative projects with other groups she has participated in functional studies related to bacterial pathogenesis in other pathosystems (Pseudomonas savastanoi-olive, Erwinia amylovora-fruit trees and others) as well as in functional studies in soil bacteria.
Her scientific interests currently focus on the study of the mechanisms of perception and response to plant and environmental factors in bacterial phytopathogens.