Michael Csukai is one of our ’40 Faces of Plant Pathology’
BSPP members can be found in 51 different countries, with 30% of members based in countries outside of the UK. As part of the BSPPs 40th anniversary, we asked our membership to describe some things about themselves, what plant pathology challenges they would most like to see solved, and what could improve the world of plant pathology in terms of inclusivity. Click here to return to 40 Faces Home Page.
Michael Csukai
Institution and country of residence
Syngenta, UK
Position title
Principal Technical Expert
Area of expertise/study
Deeply interested in the fundamental biology of fungal and oomycete plant pathogens. My lab utilises bioinformatic, genetics, biochemistry and cell biology to support the discovery of new fungicides and novel fungal control methods.
About your early experiences in education
I did not particularly enjoy my undergraduate course until my final year project, being immersed in research lab working on problems were the answer was not known showed me how interesting and exciting science could be.
If you could solve one problem in plant pathology, what would it be?
I wish we were better at predicting resistance risk. Resistance development to R genes and fungicides is very problematic; it is such a numbers game and fungi have numbers on their side.
If you could solve one issue relating to inclusivity and diversity within the field of plant pathology what would it be?
It would be great if more people were aware of the impact of unconscious biases on inclusion and diversity.
If you weren’t a plant pathologist, what would you be?
I suspect I would be working full time in bioinformatics.
