Dr. Behnam Khatabi is currently working as an Assistant Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Dr. Khatabi received his Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology from the University Of Giessen, Germany in 2009. His research focusses on plant pathogens that are a major constraint for crop production worldwide. The emphasis of Dr. Khatabi’ research is on the identification and control of plant virus diseases using modern biotechnology. He has demonstrated expertise as a senior plant pathologist in the areas of plant-pathogen interactions and mechanisms of resistance to plant pathogens. He has utilized a wide array of conventional and molecular techniques for the past 15 years to provide applied solutions to plant disease problems occurring on a number of crop species in the United States.

Dr. Khatabi has considerable experience in addressing these biological questions and intends to utilize novel plant genetic and molecular approaches to cope with plant diseases. Dr. Khatabi has successfully established collaboration with cross-disciplinary researchers to solve key, plant pathology-related challenges in the agricultural industry through biotechnological advances. His research expertise are Plant Pathology and Biotechnology, Molecular Genetics of Plant Disease Resistance, Plant Proteomics, Host-pathogen interaction and Plant Virology. A new focus of his research program is to apply genome-editing technology to control plant viruses.