APPENDIX D
ROSTER AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

COMMITTEE ON ASSISTANCE TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE PIERCE’S DISEASE/GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER BOARD ON GRAPEVINE VIRUSES AND GRAPEVINE DISEASE RESEARCH

Chair

ANNA E. WHITFIELD, North Carolina State University

Vice-Chair

ALEXANDER V. KARASEV, University of Idaho

Members

OLUFEMI JOSEPH ALABI, Texas A&M University

OZGUR BATUMAN, University of Florida

ELIZABETH J. CIENIEWICZ, Clemson University

MAMADOU LAMINE FALL, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Université de Sherbrooke

ALANA JACOBSON, Auburn University

KIRSTEN PELZ-STELINSKI,¹ University of Florida

WENPING QIU, Missouri State University

NAIDU A. RAYAPATI, Washington State University

STUART R. REITZ, Oregon State University

THOMAS H. TURPEN, Sensit Ventures, Inc.

Project Staff

CAMILLA YANDOC ABLES, Study Director

ROBIN SCHOEN, Board Director

SAMANTHA SISANACHANDENG, Senior Program Assistant

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Anna E. Whitfield, Chair, is a professor of entomology and plant pathology at North Carolina State University, which she joined in 2017 as a Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program cluster hire in Emerging Plant Diseases and Global Food Security. Previously, she was a professor of plant pathology at Kansas State University. She is known internationally for her work on plant-virus-vector interactions. The long-term goal of her research is to develop biologically-based strategies for controlling viruses and arthropod vectors. Dr. Whitfield’s research scholarship around virus-vector relationships is enabling development of innovative strategies that disrupt the cycle of disease in the field. Her awards include a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award for her work addressing the molecular mechanisms of virus-vector interactions, the KSU College of Agriculture Excellence in Graduate Teaching Award (2014), the 2016 Diversity Award from Kansas State University College of Agriculture, the Sigma Xi Kansas State University 2016 Outstanding Scientist Award, and the Syngenta award from the American Phytopathological Society for her research and teaching accomplishments (2017). Dr. Whitfield received her Master of Science degree from the University of California, Davis and her doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin.

Alexander V. Karasev, Vice-Chair, is a University Distinguished Professor of plant virology at the University of Idaho. He held faculty positions at Thomas Jefferson University and the University of Florida prior to coming to Idaho in 2006. He has been studying plant viruses and plant virus diseases for over 30 years, pioneering research in the molecular biology of closteroviruses, and in particular citrus tristeza virus at the University of California, Riverside and the University of Florida. At the University of Idaho, Dr. Karasev’s research over the past 17 years has focused on understanding interactions between plant viruses and their hosts and how resistance genes drive virus evolution. A major emphasis of his current research is on the genetic determinants of pathogenicity of plant viruses affecting potato, common beans, grapevines, and sugar beet. In 2019, Dr. Karasev was elected a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society(APS), and in 2022 he was promoted to the rank of the University Distinguished Professor at the University of Idaho. From 2019 to 2021 he served as Editor-in-Chief of Plant Disease and as a member of the APS Publication Board. Dr. Karasev received his Ph.D. in virology from the Moscow State University in Russia and continued his training as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, Riverside.

Olufemi Joseph Alabi is a plant virologist and associate professor and extension specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Texas A&M University System. His applied research and extension program addresses economically important diseases of fruit (such as citrus and grape) and vegetable crops (such as cucurbits) in South Texas through translational research into disease causation; management; and education/outreach to growers, industry stakeholders, and the public. He is a member of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), current chair of the APS Virology Committee, member of the International Council for the Study of Viruses and Virus-like Diseases of the Grapevine, and member of the National Clean Plant Network Education and Outreach Committee. He also serves on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Texas Citrus Pest and Disease Management Corporation and the Emerging Viruses in Cucurbits Working Group Steering Committee. Dr. Alabi holds a Master of Science degree in crop protection and environmental biology from the University of Ibadan in Ibadan,

Nigeria (2003). He received his doctorate degree in plant pathology from Washington State University (2009), where he worked on grapevine leafroll disease and other grapevine viruses. His research program in Texas also focuses on grapevine red blotch and leafroll diseases and their associated viruses.

Ozgur Batuman is an assistant professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center of the University of Florida. His current research focuses on pathogen identification and disease management in citrus and tomato production systems. To develop integrated pest management (IPM) in these crops, he studies plant disease etiology, pathogen biology, and epidemiology and develops novel disease management strategies. Dr. Batuman’s current research and extension activities cover fundamental and applied aspects of citrus diseases and emerging resistant-breaking viral diseases of tomato, including orthotospoviruses and tobamoviruses. He also studies plant-pathogen-vector interactions and characterizes insect-specific viruses of the vectors in these pathosystems. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher and project scientist in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis, where he worked on thrips population dynamics and tomato spotted wilt virus incidence in processing tomato, pepper, and lettuce and developed effective IPM strategies. He also identified and characterized several viruses and virus-like diseases (i.e., viroid and phytoplasma) of other vegetable crops in various countries, including the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mali, and Ghana. Dr. Batuman holds an M.Sc. degree in plant pathology from the University of Cukurova in Turkey and a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

Elizabeth J. Cieniewicz has been an assistant professor of plant virology at Clemson University since 2019. Her research is focused primarily on virus-vector interactions and the ecology of virus diseases of fruit crops including stone fruits and small fruits such as blackberry, strawberry, and grapevine. Her professional background is in vector-borne grapevine viruses, especially grapevine red blotch virus. In addition to teaching responsibilities at Clemson, she also directs the Clemson Clean Plant Center, which is affiliated with the National Clean Plant Network to ensure the supply of virus-negative propagation material for the fruit tree industry. She is also a member of the American Phytopathological Society and Entomological Society of America. She currently serves as senior editor for Plant Disease journal.

Mamadou Lamine Fall is a research scientist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and associate professor at Université de Sherbrooke. He completed his Ph.D. in plant pathology at Université de Sherbrooke and was a postdoctoral researcher at Michigan State University. He worked on plant diseases monitoring and management in the private sector before leading the virus epidemiology laboratory at the Science and Technology Branch of AAFC. Dr. Fall’s research ranges from host-virus interaction studies to applied field research focused on disease management in horticultural agroecosystem (e.g., grapevine, small fruits, etc.). His team developed virus detection tools and has demonstrated that the hybrid grapevine cultivars (e.g., Vidal) were symptomless despite the presence of grapevine leafroll viruses and that, as a result, removing of symptomatic grapevines, which is proven to be efficient, will not be effective in vineyards where Vidal grapevines are grown. He is currently an associate editor and senior editor for the Canadian Journal of Plant Pathology and Plant Disease, respectively. He also acts as guest editor for Frontiers in Virology, Frontiers in Genetics, and Frontiers in Microbiology journals.

Alana Jacobson is an associate professor at Auburn University. She holds an M.S. degree from Purdue University and Ph.D. from North Carolina State University. In 2014, Dr. Jacobson joined the faculty in Auburn University’s Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. Insect vectors of plant viruses have been a primary focus of her research, including understanding the biological, ecological, and genetic factors that influence the vector-virus interactions underlying the transmission, spread, evolution, and management of plant viruses. Her research has included studies on thrips-transmitted tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus, aphid-transmitted cotton leafroll dwarf virus, and whitefly transmitted begomoviruses including tomato yellow leaf curl virus, tomato mottle virus, and viruses that cause cassava mosaic disease. She also has ongoing projects evaluating tools and strategies for the management of insect pests of row crops, as well as projects aimed at understanding the factors driving the evolution of resistance to management strategies.

Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski is the associate director of the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center and a professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Entomology and Nematology. Her research program focuses on the biology and microbial ecology of insect vectors of plant diseases, with an emphasis on developing microbial-based management strategies for insect pests. Currently, she is investigating transmission of the Huanglongbing pathogen Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus by the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP; Diaphorina citri) to further the development of successful ACP management programs. Aspects of this research include evaluating the effects of antimicrobials on ACP fitness and pathogen transmission and investigating the function of ACP endosymbionts. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Entomological Society of America, and the American Society for Microbiology. Dr. Pelz-Stelinski received her Ph.D. (2008) and M.Sc. (2004) in entomology from Michigan State University.

Wenping Qiu is a research professor in the W. H. Darr College of Agriculture at Missouri State University, where he also directs the Midwest Center of the National Clean Plant Network-Grapevine that provides virus testing services and virus-tested clean grapevines. His research group focuses on understanding the molecular and genetic basis of disease resistance in grapevines and finding effective strategies for preventing and managing diseases that cause significant losses to the grape industry. Among his research teams’ achievements is the discovery of the first DNA virus of grapevines, grapevine vein clearing virus. Dr. Qiu has been awarded the Clif & Gail Smart Professorship (2012-2019) and the Missouri State University Foundation Award in Research (2020). He serves on the National Clean Plant Network-Grapes Tier II Committee and is a member of the American Phytopathological Society. He received his Ph.D. in plant pathology/biotechnology from North Carolina State University in 1997 and his M.S. degree in plant virology from the Wuhan Institute of Virology of the Chinese Academy of Science in 1988.

Naidu Rayapati has served as director of the Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center at Washington State University since 2018. As a faculty member since 2004 in the Department of Plant Pathology of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS), he leads an integrated program of research, teaching, and extension and outreach in plant virology with a strong focus on grapevine viruses and viral diseases in Washington vineyards. He has made significant advances in basic and applied research on economically significant grapevine viruses, leading to a better understanding of their molecular

biology and epidemiology and improved management in vineyards. Previously, Dr. Rayapati worked as a senior scientist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, contributing to crop improvement against viral diseases in subsistence agriculture in Asia and Africa. Dr. Rayapati received the International Service Award in 2007 from the American Phytopathological Society, the IPM Team Excellence Award at the 6th IPM International Symposium in 2009 for his superior contributions in plant pathology, and the Land Grant Mission Award in 2020 from CAHNRS for his outstanding contributions to research, teaching, and extension. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Phytopathological Society. He received his doctoral degree in plant virology from Sri Venkateswara University in Tirupati, India.

Stuart R. Reitz is the director of Oregon State University’s Malheur Experiment Station and a professor of cropping systems. His research addresses the management of arthropod pests, especially vectors of plant pathogens, and interactions between pest management and cultural management in cropping systems in the inland Pacific Northwest. Prior to joining Oregon State University, Dr. Reitz served as a Research Entomologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), where his research focused on the ecology and management of insect vectors of plant pathogens, in particular thrips and tospoviruses. He was a member of the W-2008 research team that was recognized in 2018 with the Western Region Excellence in Multistate Research Award for their efforts in managing onion pests and diseases. During his tenure with USDA-ARS, he received the Florida Entomological Society Research Award and was a member of the team that received the Southern Region IPM “Pulling Together” Team Award. He holds a Ph.D. in entomology from Clemson University. Dr. Reitz served as chair of the National Research Council (NRC) Insect Control Panel and member of the NRC Committee on Review of Research Proposals on Citrus Greening from 2008-2009.

Thomas H. Turpen is president and CEO of Sensit Ventures, Inc. He is an advisor with the Food System 6 organization, a member of the Sustainability Council of the 2Blades Foundation and a Principal Consultant with Technology Innovation Group. Dr. Turpen is a serial entrepreneur, a registered patent agent, and a founder of both for-profit and non-profit organizations including Eliance Biotechnology (acquired by MacroGenics) and the Citrus Research Development Foundation. His synthetic biology research contributed to the understanding and design of disease resistance traits in agriculture and helped pioneer the use of plant biomass for industrial biotechnology applications including self-assembling nanoparticles, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals at Zoecon Research Institute (Sandoz Crop Protection), Biosource, and Large Scale Biology. Dr. Turpen has a passion for connecting innovation to societal needs and has served as a director of early-stage life science companies and as an appointed volunteer in several institutional and civic advisory committees. He was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2017. He received his Ph.D. in plant pathology from the University of California, Riverside.