Laura Mugnai was born in Florence on 16.3.1958. She graduated in Forestry Sciences at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Florence and since 1983 she carries out research in Plant pathology in collaboration with researchers of the Faculty of Agriculture, now School of Agriculture, of other scientific Institutions, both from Italy and abroad. She has received CNR (National Research Council) study grants, including one for the Commonwealth Mycological Institute at Kew (UK). Since 1992 she has been working, first as a researcher, and then, since 2000, as Associate Professor in Plant pathology at the Faculty of Agriculture in Florence. She has conducted or collaborated in research on various aspects of plant pathology, first in forestry, where she focused on different aspects of taxonomy, as in the description of a new intersterility group of Heterobasidion annnosum, and later also in plant pathology of agricultural crops carrying out the characterization of new pathogenic fungi and also of bacteria, also by the application of molecular biology techniques. In the last twenty years she gave a special attention to olive and mainly grapevine diseases, devoting a special attention to esca disease and the other wood diseases of grapevine. On the subject she was called as an invited speaker to give seminars and lectures both in Italy and in many foreign countries, in all grapegrowing areas in the world, and she got the scientific responsibility and collaborated to several national and international projects, including EU funded projects. She was a cofunder and Chair person for 12 years of the Subject Matter Committee on “Grapevine trunk diseases” within the International Society of Plant Pathology, for which she organized many workshops and meetings. She was in the management committee and Italian representative of the COST action on this subject at European level (COST ManaGTD – FA1303 Sustainable control of Grapevine Trunk Diseases). She is actively engaged in running the activities of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union and she is Co-Chief Editor of the international journal Phytopathologia Mediterranea. Since 1992 she has been a researcher and, since 2002, as Associate Professor in Plant pathology at the University of Florence, running the courses of Grapevine plant pathology, Diseases caused by fungal agents, Tropical plant pathology and, for many years.

Plant pathologist, Mycology, Diseases of fruit crops