Education & Professional experience:
Post-Doctoral Associate - Cyprus University of Technology [Cyprus]; Post-Doctoral Associate - Plant Pathology, North Carolina State University [USA]; Ph.D., Plant Pathology 2007 – University of California, Riverside, CA [USA]; Diploma, Crop Science 1998 – Agricultural University of Athens [Greece]
Research interests:
His research integrates basic and applied research to address problems of concern to the Cyprus agribusiness, in terms of plant disease management and fresh produce safety. Towards this direction his work includes: (a) investigations on the etiology, population structure, and epidemiology of major plant diseases (pre- and post-harvest), aiming their efficacious management, using chemical and bio-rational approaches; (b) studies on the phenomenon of site-specific fungicide resistance (detection, mechanisms involved in the development and selection for resistance, and development of anti-resistance strategies); (c) evaluation and development of alternatives to synthetic pesticides for plant disease management (bio-pesticides); (d) research on the ecology of mycotoxigenic fungi and the factors affecting toxin production for developing management strategies to reduce mycotoxin contamination of fresh produce; (e) grapevine trunk diseases (etiology, epidemiology, biological control).