Guido Van den Ackerveken (Utrecht University, the Netherlands) is professor and chair of Translational Plant Biology. His research has provided important insights into the plant immune system and mechanisms of disease susceptibility. He is active in translating fundamental research into applications in crop breeding, primarily through public-private partnerships with seed companies in the Netherlands.
Guido is currently leading two larger national programs: (1) LettuceKnow, exploring knowledge on plant resilience and architecture obtained in a diversity panel of 500 wild and cultivated lettuce lines, and (2) CropXR, an institute aimed at developing methodologies to understand plant resilience and deploy mechanistic modeling and AI approaches to breed for climate-adapted and robust crops. CropXR is funded through an NWO Long-Term Program, the Dutch National Growth Fund, universities and private partners.
