@VectorBioSpace

I am a scientist studying vector-pathogen interactions using evolutionary and molecular approaches.

 Ithaca, NY
orcid.org/0000-0003-0921-4489
Joined November 2017
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17Media
The Heck Lab is moving south in 2026! I’m honored to be joining Virginia Tech as Director of the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, where I will also have a faculty appointment. 🌱🧬👩‍🔬 I am grateful for my nearly 20 years of public service with USDA–ARS at Cornell & Boyce Thompson Institute, which shaped my commitment to collaborative research and solutions-driven science. Stay tuned for job announcements & Heck lab updates! news.vt.edu/articles/2025/12…
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Michelle Heck retweeted
Plant Disease@PlantDiseaseJJul 19
Tanishka Aglave et al. developed a Murraya koenigii (curry) leaf extract and evaluated its use as a citrus tree-health supportive input by trunk injection for citrus under field-relevant biotic and abiotic stresses in Florida: doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-10-25-2… @VectorBioSpace #HLB
Fig. 2. Two-year-old, juvenile Ruby Red grapefruit on sour orange rootstock treated by trunk injection to alleviate huanglongbing (HLB) symptoms shows curry leaf extract performance is as good or better at alleviating foliar HLB symptoms under field conditions. Photos were taken with an iPhone 15 camera, standing in front of the tree in the middle of the row.

ALT Fig. 2. Two-year-old, juvenile Ruby Red grapefruit on sour orange rootstock treated by trunk injection to alleviate huanglongbing (HLB) symptoms shows curry leaf extract performance is as good or better at alleviating foliar HLB symptoms under field conditions. Photos were taken with an iPhone 15 camera, standing in front of the tree in the middle of the row.

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Michelle Heck retweeted
Plant Disease@PlantDiseaseJJul 14
🍊@VectorBioSpace et al. present a field-forward experimental framework, “Grove-First,” that reverses the traditional laboratory-to-field pipeline by prioritizing outcome-based screening for huanglongbing. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-25-1… #HLB #plantdisease
Fig. 1. The “Grove-First” approach: Screening new HLB therapies in the grove.

ALT Fig. 1. The “Grove-First” approach: Screening new HLB therapies in the grove.

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“Viral Silencing Suppressor Activity in Plants Modifies Aphid Antiviral Immunity and Fecundity,” by Stephanie E. Preising et al. Learn more: doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-05-25-… @VectorBioSpace #aphids
Fig. 2. The silencing suppressor capability of potato leafroll virus (PLRV) P0 wild type (wt), PLRV P0 mutants, and a panel of viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The abaxial side of N. benthamiana leaves was co-inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens vectors expressing the PLRV P0 wt construct, PLRV-P0 mutants, turnip crinkle virus (TCV) P38, cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) P0, tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) P19, and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) 2b, together with Agrobacterium vectors expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and double-stranded (ds)GFP, in a 1:1:1 ratio to evaluate the suppressor activity. For controls, N. benthamiana leaves were infiltrated with an Agrobacterium vector containing only GFP and with GFP and dsGFP in a 1:1 ratio. Photographs were taken at 3 days post-infiltration under a long-wavelength UV lamp.

ALT Fig. 2. The silencing suppressor capability of potato leafroll virus (PLRV) P0 wild type (wt), PLRV P0 mutants, and a panel of viral suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs) transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The abaxial side of N. benthamiana leaves was co-inoculated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens vectors expressing the PLRV P0 wt construct, PLRV-P0 mutants, turnip crinkle virus (TCV) P38, cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) P0, tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) P19, and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) 2b, together with Agrobacterium vectors expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and double-stranded (ds)GFP, in a 1:1:1 ratio to evaluate the suppressor activity. For controls, N. benthamiana leaves were infiltrated with an Agrobacterium vector containing only GFP and with GFP and dsGFP in a 1:1 ratio. Photographs were taken at 3 days post-infiltration under a long-wavelength UV lamp.

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Michelle Heck retweeted
Pope Leo XIV
@PontifexApr 8
I urge everyone to accompany this moment of delicate diplomacy with prayer, in hopes that a willingness to dialogue may become the means to resolve other conflict situations in the world as well. #PrayTogether #Peace
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In case you missed it, I testified this morning before the House Appropriations Subcommittee, sharing the value and impact of NIH-funded research. appropriations.house.gov/sch…

Oversight Hearing – National Institutes of Health | House Committee on Appropriations - Republicans

appropriations.house.gov
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Michelle Heck retweeted
Faye Estes
@FayeE936391 Mar 2025
Take this opportunity to learn about the latest advances HLB management.
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Michelle Heck retweeted
Faye Estes
@FayeE936393 Mar 2025
If you are in Florida and want to learn more about the USDA Grove-First project, check out the Florida Citrus Show!!
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Michelle Heck retweeted
plasmidsaurus
@plasmidsaurusFeb 12
Who needs Cupid when you've got a dropbox? 💘 Happy Valentine's Day from all of us at Plasmidsaurus! 💌 🦖
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Michelle Heck retweeted
Faheem Ullah
@Faheem_uhFeb 6
Postdoc Vs PhD Student
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Congratulations!
Alejandro Olmedo-Velarde@AOV_OlmedoVelarJan 21
Excited to share the first piece of work from my lab led by @osse_de84469 and @Hiaa_Kalita , where we characterized two new long genome pestiviruses infecting the corn leafhopper and their geographic incidence in four states link.springer.com/epdf/10.10…
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Today, we had @osse_de84469 teaching her protein expression and purification skills learnt at @CSHL
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CSCU Assisted Pub: Grove-First: A Generalizable Framework to Evaluate Translational Solutions to Citrus Greening and Other Perennial Crop Diseases apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/1… Congratulations, @VectorBioSpace and all! @CornellCALS @CornellRsrch
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I’m currently furloughed so was hesitant to share work achievements but sharing a friend’s X post can’t be considered work, right? Our Grove-First paper is out in Plant Disease! This paper highlights what’s possible when growers are partners in research & not just end users. Incredible teamwork made this happen & the project continues to support the citrus industry.
TAMU Horticultural Crop Physiology Lab 🍇🍊🍑🫒@TAMUHortPhysLab3 Nov 2025
Excited to share this work from my time at @UFIFAS_IRREC, part of a @USDA project led by Dr. Heck (@VectorBioSpace). The Grove-First framework flips the lab-to-field pipeline, testing therapies directly in groves to speed up solutions for citrus greening. apsjournals.apsnet.org/doi/1…

Grove-First: A Generalizable Framework to Evaluate Translational Solutions to Citrus Greening and...

Citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing (HLB), is the most serious vector-borne bacterial disease of citrus worldwide and an emblematic case of perennial crop decline caused by insect...

apsjournals.apsnet.org
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Today, my special topics course had @Maddie_flasco share her grad studies research on 🍇 red blotch virus and exciting epidemiological and translational knowledge within CA vineyards and its tiny insect vector, the three cornered alfalfa hopper
Alejandro Olmedo-Velarde@AOV_OlmedoVelar19 Oct 2025
Last Friday, my vector-borne plant pathosystems special topics course had @osse_de84469, an expert on geminiviruses and their vectors, to talk about this fascinating virus family and its interesting broad vector range and interactions
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Our colleagues at @michiganstateu presented on IR-4's blueberry work at a field day held September 25 at the Trevor Nichols Research Center. Read more in this story by #msucanr: ncst.at/HtH950XcvJ3.
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Last Friday, my vector-borne plant pathosystems special topics course had @osse_de84469, an expert on geminiviruses and their vectors, to talk about this fascinating virus family and its interesting broad vector range and interactions
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Are you an international scholar interested in coming to Blacksburg, VA to work with TPSC or @VTFoodSystems? We are accepting applications for the Global Distinction Fellow Program until November 3, 2025! Scan the QR code for more information.
Request for Proposals: Global Distinction Fellow. The Translational Plant Sciences Center (TPSC) and the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation (CFSCT) jointly invite applications for a Global Distinction Fellowship. View RFP. Virginia Tech logo: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech logo: Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Translational Plant Sciences Center, Virginia Tech.

ALT Request for Proposals: Global Distinction Fellow. The Translational Plant Sciences Center (TPSC) and the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation (CFSCT) jointly invite applications for a Global Distinction Fellowship. View RFP. Virginia Tech logo: College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech logo: Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Translational Plant Sciences Center, Virginia Tech.

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✅✅ A reminder by Dr. Rahaf Ajaj: She wasn’t on the Stanford list… but she made it to the Nobel stage. 🏅 Mary E. Brunkow, one of this year’s Nobel Prize winners in Medicine, has only 34 published papers and an H-index of 21. She never appeared in Stanford’s ranking of the world’s top 2% of scientists. She didn’t chase citations, metrics, or the spotlight. Yet, she became part of a discovery that changed how humanity understands the immune system. Today, while many are busy chasing numbers, titles, and rankings — she reminds us what truly matters in science: the question. 🔹 She wasn’t running after the lists. 🔹 She was running after the truth. Because in the end, it’s not about how many papers you publish… It’s about how deeply your idea can reshape the world. Focus on your idea, not your ranking.
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