معرفی
Sara Villani serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at North Carolina State University with a 90% extension and 10% research appointment focused on apple and woody ornamental disease management. Her work directly addresses regional stakeholder concerns through applied research and extension outreach.
Her educational background includes a B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Geneseo (2005) and a Ph.D. from Cornell University (2015). Her research program emphasizes developing sustainable disease management practices through five core goals: mitigating fungicide/antibiotic resistance, implementing cultural inoculum reduction practices, advancing understanding of environmental impacts on fungicide resistance, improving disease forecasting models, and assessing climate change implications for pathogen populations.
Recent publications (2019-2025) reveal a concentrated focus on apple disease complexes including Glomerella leaf spot, bitter rot, fire blight, and Rapid Apple Decline, with strong interdisciplinary connections to entomology and microbiology. Key trends include exploration of bacteriophage therapy for fire blight control, analysis of water stress impacts on ambrosia beetle behavior, genomic characterization of fungicide-resistant pathogens, and development of integrated management frameworks. Her work consistently bridges laboratory research with field applications through multisite trials and stakeholder collaboration.
Dr. Villani leads multiple competitive grants totaling over $2.4 million, including a $1.2M USDA NIFA project on ambrosia beetle ecology and a $946K initiative for comprehensive fire blight management systems. Her extension program delivers practical resources through field days, grower meetings, the MyIPM mobile application, and diagnostic services. She actively collaborates with the Plant Pathology: Diagnosis, Forecasting and Disease Management faculty group to address regional disease challenges in apple, blackberry, grape, and Christmas tree production systems.
