Cross-kingdom RNA communication & RNA-based innovative strategies for crop-protection

Dr. Hailing Jin is a Cy Mouradick Chair Professor in the Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology at the University of California, Riverside, USA. Her research focuses on the roles of RNAs, epigenetics, and antimicrobial peptides in plant-microbe interactions, with the aim of developing innovative and eco-friendly strategies for crop protection against fungal and bacterial pathogens. Her lab discovered cross-kingdom RNA communication between plants and pathogens. They have also demonstrated the crucial role of extracellular vesicles in this process. Additionally, her lab found that many fungal pathogens can efficiently take up RNAs and vesicles from the environment, providing the essential basis for the development of spray-induced gene silencing techniques for crop protection.

Dr. Jin earned her PhD from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and completed her postdoctoral training at the John Innes Centre, UK and the University of California, Berkeley. She has published a total of 115 peer-reviewed papers and has an H-index of 65. Dr. Jin is a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society (APS), and a CIFAR Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. She was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Web of Science. She was recently elected to National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2025.