Anna Whitfield

Anna Whitfield is a Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University, where she joined in 2017 as part of the Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program in Emerging Plant Diseases and Global Food Security. Her research focuses on plant-virus-vector interactions, aiming to develop biologically-based strategies for sustainable disease control.

• Education: M.S. from the University of California-Davis; Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• Research Priorities: Molecular mechanisms of virus transmission, functional genomics of insect vectors, CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing for vector competence reduction, RNA interference for pest control, and plant rhabdovirus infectious clone development.

Her work integrates CRISPR, RNAi, and LAMP/Cas12a diagnostic tools to combat resistance-breaking variants of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV) and Maize Mosaic Virus (MMV). She leads multiple USDA-funded grants targeting thrips and orthotospovirus control through innovative molecular approaches.

Scientific Awards:

• Alumni Outstanding Research Award (2023)
• NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program (2010)
• American Society for Virology Joel M. Dalrymple Memorial Award (2003)

Whitfield mentors a diverse group of Ph.D., M.S., and undergraduate researchers, with former lab members now in academia and the agricultural biotech industry. She also contributes to plant disease management programs via the Plant-Aid sensor platform for real-time pathogen detection.