Recognizing Plant Cell authors: Pilar Corredor-Moreno

Pilar Corredor-Moreno, first author of The branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase TaBCAT1 modulates amino acid metabolism and positively regulates wheat rust susceptibility

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK

Education: PhD in Crop Genetics and Plant Pathology at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK;  BSc in Biotechnology at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain

Non-scientific Interests: watching my 7-month-old baby eat banana with peanut butter, drinking coffee, chatting with friends.

Brief bio: After completing my BSc in Valencia, I moved to Norwich (UK) where I discovered the world of plant genomics and bioinformatics as a member of the Bioinformatics team at The Sainsbury Laboratory. In 2015, I then joined the lab of Dr Diane Saunders at the John Innes Centre (JIC) to pursue a PhD studying the notorious wheat rust pathogens. Following my passion for plant genomics, I focused on uncovering wheat genes that are altered in expression in response to infection by the obligate biotrophic fungus Puccinia striiformis, which causes wheat yellow rust. During this time, I also shared my passion for plant science by participating in several science outreach events, teaching on undergraduate courses at the neighbouring university and supervising a series of visiting students in the lab. I also undertook a 3-month placement at the BecA-ILRI Hub in Nairobi (Kenya) where I trained several scientists in bioinformatics and contributed to various projects. After successfully defending my thesis in 2019, I have continued to pursue my interests in plant and microbial science as a postdoctoral researcher at the JIC.