Josephine Maidment

I am interested in how an understanding of the interactions between plants and pathogenic microbes can be leveraged to deliver disease resistant crop varieties. In the 2Blades Group, I work on a collaborative project in partnership with Bayer Crop Science to identify novel resistance genes to deploy in soybean against the Asian soybean rust fungus Phakopsora pachyrhizi.

During my PhD research, conducted at the John Innes Centre, I conducted a biochemical and structural characterisation of the interaction between a rice blast effector (AVR-Pik) and its putative host target (OsHIPP19), and applied this information to engineer the NLR immune receptor Pik-1 to deliver novel disease resistance in transgenic crops.

I have recently completed an ILM Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management as part of the 2Blades Masterclass programme. Alongside my research activities, I have a keen interest in science outreach to extend and diversify the community working in and engaging with science.