Dr. Francesca Rotondo is a Research Associate in Dr. Sally A. Miller’s research group in the Department of Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster, OH. She received her degrees from the University of Bologna, Italy (B.Sc. in Biology, M.S. in Environmental Ecology, and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology). Her current research focuses mainly on bacterial diseases of tomato and their management, specifically bacterial leaf spot caused by Xanthomonas spp. Under the leadership of Dr. Miller, Dr. Rotondo coordinates the Ohio State Vegetable Pathology Lab’s diagnostics services by being actively involved in the diagnostic process and interactions with growers and Extension Educators.
Prior to her position in Dr. Miller's lab, she worked with Dr. McSpadden Gardener in the Department of Plant Pathology in Wooster on quantifying the natural distribution of populations of Cryptococcus flavescens and their genetic diversity.
From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Rotondo worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, in Tucson. During this period, Dr. Rotondo investigated speciation processes among closely related Alternaria taxa that differ primarily in their host associations.
