Tolga Bozkurt

Dr. Tolga Bozkurt is an Associate Professor in Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions at Imperial College London’s Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences. His research focuses on plant immunity mechanisms against pathogens, particularly autophagy modulation, NLR immune receptor networks, and chloroplast dynamics at infection sites. He founded the Bozkurt Research Group in 2014, which develops innovative methodologies like AI-driven protein modeling (AlphaFold2-multimer) and electrochemical sensors to study plant-pathogen interactions.

Key affiliations include the Agri Futures Lab, CRUK Convergence Science Centre, and the Fungal Science Network. His work bridges traditional cell biology with cutting-edge technologies to enhance crop resilience and agricultural sustainability. He co-founded Resurrect Bio to commercialize disease-resistant crop solutions derived from his lab’s discoveries.

Research interests include pathogen effector subversion of autophagy and membrane trafficking, bioengineering synthetic immune receptors, and understanding chloroplast positioning during immune responses. His lab studies model systems like Phytophthora infestans and Nicotiana benthamiana to uncover mechanisms of host-pathogen co-evolution.

Notable grants include BBSRC funding for engineering plant immunity. His publications emphasize AI applications in protein structure prediction and cross-kingdom autophagy modulation.