Angela Sessitsch

Head of Competence Unit, Health & Bioresources at AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

Speaker

Dr. Angela Sessitsch is Head of the Competence Unit at the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. She studied biochemistry at the University of Technology in Graz, holds a PhD in Microbiology from the Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and is habilitated at the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. She has pioneered plant-associated microbiomes and is interested in understanding the interactions between plants, microbiomes and the environment as well as to develop applications. Her group explores the diversity and functioning of plant microbiota by applying a range of molecular approaches, interaction modes between plants and model bacteria, colonization behaviour of endophytes as well as various application technologies for biocontrol and crop enhancement applications. Together with her group A. Sessitsch published more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, she belongs to the Highly Cited Researchers and is co-inventor of several patents.

Angela Sessitsch is an internationally recognized expert on beneficial plant-microbe interactions and established this research area at AIT. Her know-how encompasses the understanding the ecology and functioning of microbial endophytes, molecular approaches to explore their potential and exploring plant beneficial microorganisms for agricultural applications.

Angela Sessitsch has coordinated various national and international projects, has organized international conferences, has been invited to give keynote and invited lectures at international symposia and was member of the EFSA Panel of Genetically Modified Organisms.