SCHENA Leonardo

Leonardo Schena is Full Professor of Plant Pathology (sector AGR/12) at the Department of Agriculture of the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria (UNIRC), where he has been Full Professor since 2020 and Associate Professor since 2007. He holds a Master's degree in Agricultural Sciences (Bari, 1995) and a PhD in Plant Pathology (Bari, 2001), and refined his training with a research period at the Volcani Center (Israel, 1997) and a Marie Curie Fellowship at the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee (United Kingdom, 2004-2005). He has coordinated the SAAF PhD Programme at UNIRC since 2022 and served as National Coordinator of PRIN 2017, PRIN 2022 and FIRB 2010.

Over more than twenty-five years he has developed scientific expertise integrating plant pathology, microbial ecology and molecular biology. He is internationally recognised for the study of the plant microbiome, having investigated its structure, functions, inheritance and interactions with host and pathogens, helping to define the concept of the core microbiome and to document dysbiosis phenomena induced by external factors. He has solid experience in biological control using antagonistic microorganisms, plant and microbial extracts and GRAS substances, and in the prevention of mycotoxin contamination, with particular attention to Mediterranean crops. He has developed molecular diagnostic methods for numerous fungal, bacterial and oomycete plant pathogens, some incorporated into EPPO protocols, and was a pioneer of metagenomic approaches to the diversity of the genus Phytophthora, contributing to the characterisation of new hybrids, new species and the new genus Nothophytophthora. This expertise is reflected in 123 Scopus publications (H-index 50), two patents and inclusion in the "World's Top 2% Scientists" for six consecutive years.