Joy Bergelson, Ph.D.

Joy Bergelson is the Dorothy Schiff Professor of Genomics in the Department of Biology at NYU. Research in her laboratory straddles the ecology and evolution of species interactions, as she investigates the coevolutionary interactions between plants and their pathogens. Her group is best known for dispelling the long-held belief that arms-race dynamics typify the evolution of plant resistance to pathogens in nature. In working to understand the selective forces shaping plant associated microbe, her group has pioneered the use of genetically manipulated plants to disentangle ecological interactions. Through her international collaborations, Bergelson’s lab has also been instrumental in developing genome-wide association mapping in Arabidopsis, providing resources to the community and ultimately leading to the 1001 Genomes project. Current projects extend studies of coevolutionary dynamics to the microbiome, sets of co-occurring hosts, and the importance of ecological context in functional biology.

Dr. Bergelson holds a PhD from the University of Washington, a MPhil from the University of York (UK) and a BSc from Brown University. Prior to joining NYU, Bergelson was the James D Watson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, where she served as the Chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolution.

Joy Bergelson currently serves on Science Advisory Boards for TULIP INRAE (France), MiCROP (The Netherlands), The Blavatnik Foundation (NYC), and CEPLAS (Germany). She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science, the American Society of Arts and Sciences and the American Society for the Advancement of Science. Earlier awards include Marshall Scholarship, Packard Fellowship and Presidential Faculty Fellow Award.