We are pleased to welcome Dr. Eunyoung Chae to the Department of Biology this month. Eunyoung joins the University of Oxford as Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and as Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College.
Eunyoung completed her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University, USA, and postdoctoral training at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tübingen, Germany. Before joining Oxford, Eunyoung worked as Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore in Singapore and ran Plant Genetics Laboratory for seven years as Principal Investigator.
Trained as a molecular and evolutionary geneticist, Eunyoung has a broad interest in understanding how genetic variation within a species influences its adaptive potential in changing environments. Her current research focuses on autoimmunity in plants, specifically triggered by mismatched immune components in hybrid plants. These autoimmune plants not only suffer from acute immune responses but also developmental defects due to the trade-offs between immunity and growth. Her work employs a multidisciplinary approach to investigate how plants finely regulate both immunity and growth simultaneously.
The Chae lab will aim to investigate the variability of immune responses, its contribution to adaptation, and fitness consequences of this variability on growth and development. Knowledge gained from this line of research is likely to guide efforts to develop germplasm with optimized combinations of stress response and agronomic performances.
We wish Eunyoung well with her teaching and research this first year.
