Soraya Mousavi

Soraya Mousavi is a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in Perugia. She holds a Ph.D. in physiology and genetic Improvement from the University of Tarbiat Modares, Department of Agricultural Sciences, Tehran, Iran, which she completed in December 2013 with a thesis on 'Study of morpho-physiological characteristics and molecular fingerprinting of olive feral forms and cultivars'.

Dr. Mousavi's research focuses on olive genetics, genomics, and breeding. Her work encompasses genetic identification of olive genotypes, development of olive pan genome, characterization of olive genes involved in stress responses and oil synthesis, and development of molecular markers. She has led the genetic identification of more than 5,000 worldwide olive genotypes from 30 countries through SSR and SNP markers in the OMIBREED project. Her research also includes studying phenotypic plasticity of olives under different environments, cross-breeding for climate-resilient cultivars, and metabolomics profiling of olive genotypes.

Dr. Mousavi's recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on olive genomics, stress responses, oil quality, and genetic diversity. She has made significant contributions to understanding olive self-incompatibility systems, cold stress resilience, and the genetic basis of oil quality traits. Her research combines molecular biology, genomics, and field studies to address challenges in olive cultivation under changing climatic conditions, particularly regarding Xylella fastidiosa resistance.

• Responsible for the CNR-IBBR Unit in PRIN 2022: XyWall project (2025-2027)
• Responsible for the CNR-IBBR Unit in the H2020 Europe Project: BeXyl (2022-2026)
• Responsible for the CNR-IBBR Unit in the REACH-XY project (2022-2027)
• Responsible for the CNR-IBBR Unit in the OMIBREED project (2023-2026)
• Responsible for the CNR-IBBR Unit in the PNRR-AGRITECH project (2022-2026)

Dr. Mousavi coordinates a research group that includes several postdoctoral researchers and technicians working on olive genomics and breeding projects. She serves as a guest editor for special issues in Frontiers in Plant Science and Sustainability Journal, and is a reviewer for numerous prestigious journals including Tree Genetics & Genomes, European Journal of Horticultural Science, and Scientific Reports.