Horticulture was a recurring theme in my educational journey back in Italy, from high school, through to MSc and PhD studies (University of Bologna). My PhD scholarship took me all the way to New Zealand in 2005 to work on kiwifruit dry matter for 18 months. During my postdocs at Plant & Food Research (AGMARDT and Plant & Food Research-funded) I focused on the molecular physiology of carbohydrate metabolism in kiwifruit, developed a collaboration with the Max Planck in Germany and, as nearly everyone did back in the early 2010s, helped on Psa research. My research is mainly focused on understanding carbohydrate metabolism during kiwifruit vine and fruit development, and how this can affect other traits (e.g. flesh pigmentation), using a multidisciplinary approach integrating transcriptomic, metabolomics and enzymology to explore natural genetic diversity. My expertise includes knowledge of the carbohydrate and hormone metabolic pathways in plants. In 2020, I took up the role of team leader for Vine Performance, with the aim to establish a new team of enthusiastic scientists, research associates and students. As a team, we focus on improving kiwifruit productivity by studying the molecular and genetic controls of carbon/hormone metabolism and Psa resistance.

• Orcid profile

  Research history and publications