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My academic career started with a fascination for plant genetics and cell biology that developed during my undergraduate degree and master’s degree at the University of Lethbridge in Canada with Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Schultz. An interest in plant cell imaging led to a Ph.D. with Prof. Dr. Ralf Klösgen/Martin Schattat at the Martin Luther University in Halle (Germany), where I focused on how plants regulate organelle positioning and shape in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. A segue into plant pathogen interactions came with the discovery that exposure to secreted proteins (effectors) from phytopathogenic bacteria drastically altered chloroplast position and morphology, specifically the formation of stroma-filled tubules (stromules). After this first exciting encounter with plant pathology, I continued to study effectors from Xanthomonas and the mechanisms with which they manipulate plant cell organization and cytoskeleton, first as a Postdoc in the lab of Prof. Dr. Ulla Bonas (MLU, Halle) and then as independent project leader (funded by the Walter Benjamin Programme, DFG) in the department of Prof. Dr. Tina Romeis (Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Halle). In September 2024 I started the Bacterial Apoplast Modulators Lab as a Junior Group Leader at the University of Tübingen (ZMBP), where my group studies bacterial proteins acting in the apoplast and their contributions to disease.

Intrigued by how plants respond to abiotic and biotic challenges during my bachelor’s degree at the University of Potsdam, I set a course toward a deeper understanding of plant-biotic interactions with a master’s degree at the Martin-Luther University (MLU) in Halle, which I completed in August 2023 in Dr. Martin Schattat’s lab. During my studies, I did a five-month internship at the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, where I worked in the lab of Dr. Sebastian Schornack. This allowed me to explore relationships between beneficial and detrimental plant-microbe interactions, deepening my fascination with this field. Since November 2024, I have been a PhD student at the University Tübingen (ZMBP) in the lab of Dr. Jessica Erickson, studying how proteins from pathogenic bacteria in the plant apoplast support disease. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading fantasy, am obsessed with Star Trek, and love playing video games and D&D.

Dr. Nga-Thanh Pham
Research Assistant
nga.phamspam prevention@zmbp.uni-tuebingen.de