Shunyuan Xiao is an associate professor of the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR) (link is external) and the Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland College Park. He received his Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Plant Genetics from Huazhong Agricultural University, China. After postdoctoral research at University of Florida, USA and University East Anglia, UK, he became an assistant professor of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute in 2003 and joined the University of Maryland College Park as an associate professor in 2010. Dr. Xiao’s research interest is focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of plant resistance against fungal pathogens and engineering novel resistance.