Research in the department on Diagnosis, Forecasting and Disease Management integrates strategies such as cultural and biological controls, chemical control, host plant resistance, disease-free planting stock programs, and others to improve farming systems. A major accomplishment of this research has been the development of a high quality diagnostic facility with state-of-the-art database systems for tracking and reporting diagnoses.
- Dr. Oliver Baars – Analysis and biological chemistry of exudates in plant-microbe interactions. Nutrient controls on plant microbiome activity.
- Dr. Peter Balint-Kurti – Mapping and functional analysis of quantitative loci conferring resistance to fungal pathogens in maize
- Dr. Ignazio Carbone – Fungal evolutionary genomics, population genetics; phylogeography
- Dr. Christina Cowger – Population and molecular genetics of fungal diseases of cereals
- Dr. Marc Cubeta – Genetics, ecology, and population biology of soil fungi
- Dr. Eric L. Davis – Functional genomics & molecular mechanisms of parasitism by nematodes
- Dr. Ralph A. Dean – Fungal and host genomics; Director, Center for Integrated Fungal Research
- Dr. Lina Quesada – Diseases of cucurbit crops and sweetpotato to deliver novel and improved disease management strategies to growers in North Carolina and advance our knowledge in the field of vegetable pathology.
- Dr. Jean Beagle Ristaino – Population genomics of Phytophthora infestans and molecular evolution.
- Dr. Sara Villani – Management of ornamental and apple diseases