About Me


I am a molecular biologist, focused on citrus pathology. I did my bachelor and Ph.D. at the University of La Plata (La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina), and graduated in 2010 and 2015 respectively.

The main topic of my research at that time was Citrus psorosis and its causal agent, Citrus psorosis virus. I did my first postdoctoral research in the same institution (Maria Laura Garcia lab, Institute of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, IBBM), changing the topic to bacterial diseases of citrus, trying to find alternatives for control of Citrus canker, CVC and Citrus greening (HLB).

In September 2016 I moved to the US, to do my second postdoc in Wenbo Ma lab, University of California Riverside, completely focused on Citrus HLB.


Education

PhD in Biological sciences

  • 2010 - 2015
  • National University of La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • “Study of the resistance mechanism of transgenic hybrid Citrus sinensis plants against Citrus psorosis virus”
  • Advisor: Dr. Maria Laura Garcia
  • Scholarship from: CONICET

 

Education

Bachelor's in Biotechnology and molecular biology

  • 2005 - 2010
  • National University of La Plata
  • Advisor: Maria Laura Garcia
  • Scholarship from: CIC

 

Experiences

Postdoctoral Researcher

  • 2016 – 2020
  • University of California Riverside
  • Developing detection methods for the causal agent of Citrus Huanglongbing (HLB) while studying effectoromics, in Wenbo Ma lab, Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.

 

Experiences

Postdoctoral Researcher

  • 2015 – 2016
  • Universidad Nacional de La Plata
  • My research focused on Control of bacterial diseases of citrus by acquired resistance and pathogen control, in María Laura Garcia lab, Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular (IBBM) CCT-La Plata, UNLP.

 

Experiences

Teaching Assistant

  • 2010 – 2016
  • Universidad Nacional de La Plata

Plant biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology. Lectured seminar, led discussion sessions, and supervised the laboratory sessions.

 

Publications

List of Publications

- [ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agustina_De_Francesco) - [GoogleScholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=es&user=H4gDxz8AAAAJ) - [Complete list of publications](img/De Francesco cv april 2019.pdf)