Our Plenary Keynote Speakers
KEYNOTE:
The past, the present and the future of MPU and the Journal Phytopathologia Mediterranea
Giuseppe Surico
Honorary President of MPU
Giuseppe Surico is Professor Emeritus at the University of Florence. He carried out his academic career first in the Italian National Research Council (1970-1986) and then in the University (1986-2015). For about 2 years (1980-81), he held the role of Research Associate at the Department of Plant pathology, University of California, Davis. He taught in degree courses in Agriculture, Pharmacy and Architecture and held various academic roles in the Faculty of Agriculture and the University of Florence. He was editor and publisher of scientific journals and carried out research in various fields of Plant Pathology, in particular biology, epidemiology and genetics of phytopathogenic bacteria, diseases of olive trees and grapevines.
Laura Mugnai
Editor in Chief of Phytopathologia Mediterranea; University of Florence, Italy
Laura Mugnai is a full professor in plant pathology. In the last 30 years her main research interest was related to sustainable control of diseases, in particular in the vineyard, focusing on Grapevine Trunk Diseases, especially on esca complex disease, by participating in European networks and projects, in the search of solutions for GTDs management and to reduce pesticides applications. She is a co-funder of the international Council on Grapevine Trunk Diseases, Vice-president of the International Society of Plant Pathology, and Co-Editor in Chief of the international journal Phytopathologia Mediterranea.
KEYNOTE:
Plant Health research coordination: an international endeavour
Baldissera Giovani
Coordinator of the European Phytosanitary Research Coordination Network (EUPHRESCO)
Mr Giovani holds a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics and worked for a number of years as a researcher in world leading universities, governmental agencies and private companies. Since 2008 he has been interested in research funding, international research cooperation and transnational public-public partnership. Since 2014, he is the coordinator of the Euphresco network for phytosanitary research coordination and funding. In addition to partnership in other European projects for the dissemination of research results, in 2024 he initiated the coordination of the European Euphresco III project to lay the foundation for network development on a global scale.
KEYNOTE:
IPPC capacity building in plant health
Sarah Brunel
Implementation and Facilitation Unit Lead, International Plant Protection Convention, IPPC-FAO, Rome, Italy
Sarah leads the Implementation and Facilitation Unit (IFU), which coordinates implementation, facilitation and capacity development activities such as the production of IPPC guides and training materials, phytosanitary capacity evaluations and capacity strengthening activities to address emerging pests. Sarah’s focus is on the coordination of implementation projects and management of the IFU’s workplan. She is the IPPC Secretariat’s lead on One Health. Sarah is also the secretariat’s liaison with organizations such as the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), Comité de Liaison Entreprenariat – Agriculture – Dévelopement (COLEAD), the European Union and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Sarah is an agricultural engineer and has a master’s degree in international affairs and another in anthropology from Sorbonne University and the French Museum of Natural History, respectively. She has more than 20 years of national, regional and international experience in plant protection, pest and disease control policies and legislation, implementation of standards for phytosanitary measures, environmental protection and capacity development.
KEYNOTE:
CIHEAM Bari Educational Programmes to strengthen plant health research In the Mediterranean Region
Anna Maria d'oNGHIA
Secretary of MPU; CIHEAM Bari, Italy
She is a plant pathologist with internationally recognized scientific expertise in plant health (pest surveillance, detection, characterization, epidemiology and IPM; plant quarantine; plant certification) and food safety, with more than 35 years of experience in education, applied research and international cooperation. Head of the IPM sector until 2018, she is now coordinating the Knowledge Unit on Precision Crop Protection and the CIHEAM Master of Science on ‘IPM of fruit and vegetable crops’. She represents the Institute in various capacities, such as secretary of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union, member of the Euphresco network management group and working group on IPPC phytosanitary curricula. She is currently WP leader and champion for the Southern Europe-Mediterranean region in the EU project “EUPHRESCO III”. She promoted the CIHEAM Bari-EUPHRESCO regional initiative on “Phytosanitary Research Priorities for the Mediterranean Region.” Co-Editor and reviewer of Phytopathologia Mediterranea, she has co-authored more than 250 research papers.
KEYNOTE:
Transboundary pathogens that threaten crops and the natural landscape in the Mediterranean region
Thaer Yaseen
Regional Plant Protection Officer - RNE-FAO
May 1st, 2024, Representative of Food and Agriculture Organization Sultanate of Oman (OiC).
Since 2017, Regional Officer for Plant Protection and Production (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in the Near East and North Africa Region). He is leading the FAO activities in plant protection activities in NENA region. Responsible for guiding FAO’s response to regional and national priorities for food security, Pest and Pesticide management in the NENA region. Lead and manage the regional and national dialogue with high-level authority and planning on the need and implementation of NENA counties.
He worked for 18 years at CIHEAM-Bari. Supervised over 14 doctoral degrees and more than 52 master’s degrees in disease and pest control science. Published more than 135 scientific papers, and 20 books.
He gets PhD from Bari University, Italy. bachelor’s and master’s degree from Damascus University, Syria. Diploma in Plant Protection from CIHEAM-MAIB, Bari – Italy.
KEYNOTE:
General overview of the EU policies for Plant health with a focus on Xylella fastidiosa
Maria Belen Marquez Garcia
Crisis Management in Food, Animals and Plants, European Commission
Belen Marquez Garcia is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, within the Plant Health Unit of the Directorate on Crisis Preparedness in Food, Animals and Plants of the Directorate-General on Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE). She is in charge of the EU regulatory framework of major plant pests threatening the Union territory such as the plant bacterium Xylella fastidiosa and the beetle Popillia japonica.
KEYNOTE:
Prevention, preparedness and response to plant disease outbreaks in the Mediterranean Basin
Antonio Vicent Civera
Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research, Spain
Ph.D. in Plant Pathology Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). M.Sc. in Biostatistics Universitat de València (Spain). Head of the Plant Protection and Biotechnology Center at Valencian Institute for Agricultural Research (IVIA) Spain. Main areas of research i) epidemiology and control of fungal diseases of citrus and other subtropical fruit crops, with emphasis on the development and evaluation of decision support systems to optimize management strategies; and ii) risk assessment of exotic plant pathogens, with emphasis on the development of models for surveillance, eradication and containment. Member of the Council of the Spanish Phytopathological Society (2016-2020) and currently Chair of the Plant Health Panel of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
KEYNOTE:
Plant Quarantine challanges under Climate change
Salah M. Abdel-Momen
Former Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt; MPU Delegate of the Egyptian Phytopathological Society; Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt
Salah M. Abdel-Momen earned his Ph.D. in plant pathology from Texas A&M university and did a postdoctoral program at the department of molecular genetics, university of Maryland. He returned back to Egypt to work as a researcher at the plant pathology research institute, agricultural research center (ARC ) where, with colleagues, established a laboratory for molecular plant pathology to help in diagnosis and plant-microbe interactions.
At the ARC, he conducted research on diseases of several crops and supervising several Master theses and Ph. D. dissertations. Also, he was involved in several training programs in different areas of research, management, extension and on farm training.
He was an active member and was elected as a president of the Egyptian Society of Phytopathology. Through his career, he was appointed administrative tasks including vice of the president and president of the ARC, Minister of Agriculture and currently a head researcher at ARC.
KEYNOTE:
Fungi and mycotoxins crucial role in food and feed safety
Paola Battilani
President of the Italian Society of Plant Pathology; Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
Paola Battilani is full professor in Plant Pathology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza-Italy. Her research is focused on mycotoxins since 2000, and she was a pioneer in studying ochratoxin A in grapes and wine and aflatoxin occurrence in Italy. Regarding aflatoxin, she patented an atoxigenic strain of A. flavus, active ingredient of a bio fungicide. She studied the impact of climate change on mycotoxin occurrence at large scale, mainly in Europe, but also at small scale level emphasizing the variability of fungi and mycotoxin co-occurrence in maize. Predictive modelling was a thread in her research activity, and it was applied to several host-fungi systems and combined with machine learning approaches to optimize the performances. She is the President of the Italian Society of Plant Pathology.
KEYNOTE:
Smart digital and artificial intelligence technologies for plant disease detection, territory surveillance and control measures
Dimitris Tsitsigiannis
President of MPU; Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
Dr Dimitris Tsitsigiannis is Professor of Plant Pathology and the President of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union. He is a member of the Board of Directors in Agricultural University of Athens, Greece and Director of the Postgraduate Program entitled “Integrated Plant Protection and Environmental Management Systems“. He obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. He is currently leading a research group of 20 PhD and MSc students working on developing novel, effective and environmentally sustainable Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies to control important plant diseases and mycotoxins. His IPM strategies focus on discovery and evaluation of novel biocontrol products, novel smart solutions to improve diagnosis, prognosis and epidemiology of plant diseases, development of Decision Support Systems and digital precision agriculture technologies for controlling plant diseases/mycotoxins. He has coordinated several research projects related to plant health and funded by the European Union and Greece.
KEYNOTE:
Integrating Plant Health into One Health through One Biosecurity
Philip E. Hulme
Lincoln University, New Zealand
Philip Hulme is a Distinguished Professor of plant biosecurity at Lincoln University New Zealand known for his pioneering work on the concept of One Biosecurity, which integrates human, animal, plant, and environmental health to address biosecurity threats comprehensively. His interdisciplinary approach emphasizes the interconnectedness of these sectors to effectively prevent and mitigate the impacts of invasive alien species. Hulme’s work has been instrumental in highlighting the need for a unified biosecurity strategy that transcends traditional boundaries, aiming to protect global health and biodiversity from the increasing risks posed by biological invasions. His personal research has largely addressed issues of plant health, particularly the spread, impact, and management of invasive plant species but also the evolution of herbicide resistance in crop weeds, and the pathways for the introduction of plant pathogens. He received the NZ Ecological Society Award for Excellence in 2022 and the Lincoln University Global Science Medal in 2024.
KEYNOTE:
EPPO role in linking research to plant health policy
Olga TIKKA
Director-General European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization, Paris, France
Olga TIKKA, I became the Director General of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization on January 1, 2025. In this role, I oversee the overall direction of the EPPO Council and lead the implementation of our work program along with the EPPO Secretariat staff. I have a strong academic background, with master’s degrees in Biology and Business Administration. Throughout my 20-year career in the phytosanitary field, I have focused significantly on capacity development, particularly in the European and Mediterranean regions as well as Central Asia. I played a key role in establishing the IPPC Implementation and Capacity Development Committee and was elected as its first Chair. My expertise lies in developing international phytosanitary regulations and shaping standards for the International Plant Protection Convention, EPPO, and EU regulations. Among my core strengths are building, managing, and maintaining productive and collaborative relationships with stakeholders at all levels, including external partners, NGOs, government agencies, and international organizations. This approach ensures the successful delivery of projects that contribute to the advancement of plant health.
KEYNOTE:
Plant Health - Food Safety - One Health
Giuseppe Stancanelli
Plant Health Risk Assessment Team Leader, PLANTS Unit, EFSA
Giuseppe Stancanelli, agronomist specialised in crop protection, is Team Leader in Plant Health Risk Assessment at the Environment, Plants and Ecotoxicology Unit of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma (Italy), where he has been working since 2007. The activities of his Team include: pest categorisation, climate suitability, quantitative pest risk assessment, commodity risk assessment, databases on new and emerging plant pests and cooperation in plant health research. A key focus is on preparedness against new and emergent plant pests, in particular Xylella fastidiosa, Citrus Black Spot, bark and ambrosia beetles. He previously worked at the Agriculture and Inspection Services of Regione Liguria with main activities on plant virus diagnosis and epidemiology, IPM and biological control in horticulture crops.