Current lab members

Dr. Marc Fuchs

Principal Investigator
Professor
Dr. Marc Fuchs was born and raised in the grape growing region of Alsace, France, and earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg. His research and extension program at Cornell University emphasizes translational research on virus diseases of fruit and vegetable crops. As a virologist, Marc has worked on viruses of fruit and vegetable crops, and particularly of grapevine, for more than 35 years. His program’s research goals include characterizing virus populations and virus-vector-host interactions, developing robust detection methodologies, and exploring innovative disease management strategies.

Jiyeong (Jess) Choi

PhD Student
Jess is in her 6th year as a PhD student. She was a Cornell Summer Scholar in the Fuchs lab in 2017 and graduated from Auburn University in Alabama in 2017 with a B.S. degree in Microbiology. She is interested in identifying GFLV suppressor of RNA silencing and exploring its molecular mechanism(s). Jess believes that clarifying this counter-defense mechanism would enhance our understanding of GFLV-host interactions.

 


Victoria Hoyle

PhD Student
Tori is in her 5th year as a PhD Student, she was a Cornell Summer Scholar in the Fuchs lab in 2018 and graduated from Truman State University in Missouri with a B.S. in Agricultural Science. She works with grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV), a biological system for which little is known with regards to disease ecology. Tori is interested in further understanding the modality of GRBV and Spissistilus festinus in vineyard ecosystems by focusing on the behavioral interactions and movement of GRBV within S. festinus that support virus transmission. Strengthening our knowledge of these relationships allows us to devise proactive management strategies.

 


Elliot McGinnity Schneider

PhD Student
Elliot is a 1st year PhD student. He was a former Fuchs Lab Summer Scholar in 2022 and graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. Elliot works on grapevine leafroll-associated virus 3 (GLRaV-3) and its mealybug vectors. He is interested in the potential for RNAi transcripts targeting insect osmoregulatory genes to be used as a management strategy in vineyards to reduce viral spread and mealybug prevalence.

Brandon Roy

PhD Student
Brandon is a 4th year PhD student working on the grapevine fanleaf virus pathosystem. He interned as a Summer Scholar in 2019 in the Fuchs lab and graduated from Lebanon Valley College with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2020). His research interests lie between the molecular interactions at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels – and further investigating symptom determinants in GFLV. While currently working in a model host, Brandon hopes to move his research into grape and develop management strategies based on the molecular phenomenon behind viral diseases.

Anna Wunsch

Research Support Specialist
Anna has worked as a Research Support Specialist since 2023 after completing her master’s research in the Fuchs Lab and earning an M.S. from Cornell University. Prior to joining the Fuchs Lab, she earned a B.S. in Agricultural Science and Technology at the University of Maryland in 2019 and then joined the USDA-APHIS Plant Germplasm Quarantine Program in Beltsville, Maryland to screen imported fruit tree germplasm for viral pathogens. Anna works on characterizing the transmission and impacts of latent apple viruses, and is also working to determine whether these viruses play a role in the rapid decline of apple trees in commercial orchards. She also aims to optimize the detection of latent viruses in apple trees based on the seasonal dynamics of virus translocation throughout host tissues.

 


Rosemary Cox

Research Support Specialist
Rosemary Cox has been a Research Support Specialist in the Fuchs lab since 2007.  Her responsibilities have focused mostly on the processing and testing fruit and vegetable crop samples for various viruses using serological and molecular diagnostic assays.  Rosemary is also involved in research projects on grapevine viruses.

 


Heather McLane

Research Support Specialist
Heather McLane joined the Fuchs lab as a Research Support Specialist in  2021. Her responsibilities have focused on the development of infectious clones of grapevine viruses. Heather is also responsible for diagnostics of grapevine viruses using various molecular assays.

 


Kyle Hegel

Technician
Kyle has been a Technician in the Fuchs lab since 2018. He is assisting the processing and testing of fruit crop samples for viruses, including research on grapevine viruses. Kyle is also responsible for maintaining the plants in the greenhouses.

 

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