Members of the Panel on Plant Health (PLH)

The PLH Panel brings together highly qualified risk assessment experts from a number of European nationalities with expertise in a range of relevant fields.

Panel members are appointed by the EFSA Management Board for three years renewable. Appointments are made on the basis of proven scientific excellence following an open call for applications and a rigorous selection procedure. The Panel regularly sets up Working Groups involving external scientists with relevant expertise to deal with specific matters and to help produce scientific opinions. All experts working for EFSA sign a Declaration of Interests to safeguard EFSA’s commitment to independence.


View the Declarations of Interests and biographies

PLH Panel Members and their areas of expertise 

Michael John Jeger, Chair

  • Plant pathogens and risk assessment (general)
  • Plant disease epidemiology (fungi and bacteria)
  • Plant virus epidemiology (including vector population dynamics)
  • Integrated disease management (as a component of IPM)
  • Evolution of pathogen virulence and pesticide resistance
  • Forest pathology and tree health
  • Disease in natural plant communities
  • Climate change and plant disease ecology
  • Network analysis of trade pathways
  • Mathematical models of epidemics

Maria Navajas, Vice-Chair

  • Biodiversity
  • Systematics and species diagnostics in spider mites
  • Populations genetics
  • Plant/pest interactions
  • Invasive alien species

Johan Coert van Lenteren, Vice-Chair

  • Risk assessment of organisms threatening plant health
  • Developing and applying risk assessment methods (qualitative and quantitative methods including environmental risks)
  • Production and evaluation of Pest Risk Assessments
  • Management options, in particular Integrated Pest Management and biological control
  • Ecology and behaviour of invasive organisms
  • Invertebrates pests (insects, mites and nematodes)
  • Spatial-temporal modelling of pest dynamics

Richard H.A. Baker

  • Pest risk assessment with particular regard to quantitative methods
  • Quantitative pathway analysis
  • Spatial-temporal modelling of pest dynamics, including aerobiology
  • Invertebrate pests (phytophagous insects, mites and nematodes)
  • Integrated pest management and biological control
  • Weed science, including parasitic plants
  • Landscape ecology in relation to plant health

Thierry Candresse

  • Plant Virology
  • Diagnostics
  • Viral diversity and Taxonomy
  • Plant-virus interactions
  • Plant virus risk assessment
  • Virus resistant transgenic plants
  • Biosafety
  • Plant health

Simon Erzsébet Dormannsné

  • Diagnostics of plant diseases
  • Control of soil borne plant diseases and plant diseases generally,
  • Conduction of pesticide efficacy trials against fungal pathogens
  • Microbiological control of soil borne fungal diseases, application methods, registration trials
  • Persistance of microbiological control agents, fate in the soil
  • Laboratory examination of samples, control advice for farmers
  • PRA for regulated plant diseases, pathway analysis, quarantine management aspects
  • Methods of quarantine pest management, surveillance, inspection, detection

Gianni Gilioli

  • Population dynamics and trophic interaction modelling
  • Continuous and discrete spatial modelling
  • Epidemiological modelling
  • Population data analysis and parameter estimation
  • Biology and ecology of arthropod plant pests (insects and mites)
  • Applied ecology, ecosystem services and environmental impact
  • Population and ecosystem management
  • Pest risk assessment

Jean-Claude Grégoire

  • Invertebrate pests (phytophagous insects, mites and nematodes)
  • Forest entomology
  • Integrated pest management and biological control
  • Pest risk assessments
  • Quantitative pathway analyses

Olia Karadjova

  • Morphological and bionomical research on greenhouse pests
  • Arthropod Resistance to Insecticides and Acaricides
  • Virus-Vector–Plant Relationships, Epidemiological surveys and Management
  • Pest Risk Assessment
  • IPM: Plant extracts, Bioagents, Mating disruption

Gabor Lovei

  • Invasion ecology
  • Biological control
  • Pest control
  • Experimental design & statistics
  • Pest risk assessment
  • GMO risk assessment
  • Agroecology
  • Coinservation biology

David Makowski

  • Statistical data processing
  • Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis
  • Risk assessment with quantitative methods
  • Plant science

Charles Manceau

  • Plant pathology. Plant-pathogen interactions, and epiphytic phase, seed transmission
  • Bacteriology. Taxonomy and phylogeny of Pseudomonads and Xanthomonads
  • Etiology and Epidemiology of bacterial diseases: Xylophilus ampelinus, Pseudomonas syringae, Xanthomonas arboricola, X. campestris, X. axonopodis, Agrobacterium vitis, Erwinia amylovora
  • Diagnosis and molecular tools
  • Antibiotic resistance and control of bacterial diseases
  • Risk assessment of plant pathogenic organisms and plant pests and risk management analysis (Plant pathogenic bacteria, Phythophtora ramorum, Anaplophora chinenesis, …)

Angelo Porta Puglia

  • Seed-borne fungal diseases
  • Resistance of plants to fungal diseases
  • Epidemiology
  • Integrated disease management
  • Pest risk assessment (fungi)
  • Contingency plans for fungal plant diseases

Trond Rafoss

  • Ecology
  • Applied statistics
  • Agrometeorology
  • Bioclimatic modelling and analysis
  • Biotic climate change responses
  • Pest risk mapping
  • Quantitative plant pest risk analysis
  • Spatial stochastic simulation
  • Uncertainty quantification
  • Information technology standards and mobile internet

Vittorio Rossi

  • Pest risk assessment with particular regard to quantitative methods
  • Quantitative pathway analysis
  • Spatial-temporal modelling of pest dynamics, including aerobiology
  • Experimental design and statistical data processing
  • Systematic literature review
  • Plant pathology (diseases caused by the phytopathogenic micro-organisms)
  • Plant disease epidemiology and management
  • Integrated pest management and biological control

Jan Schans

  • Pest risk assessment with particular regard to quantitative methods
  • Risk reduction options
  • Quantitative pathway analysis
  • Risk based surveillance and inspection systems
  • Plant disease epidemiology
  • Population ecology
  • Plant pathology
  • Nematology

Gritta Schrader

  • Risk assessment in plant health
  • Impacts on plant health in natural environments
  • Invasive alien species
  • Invertebrate pests (in particular insects)
  • Plants as pests
  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Systematic literature review

Gregor Urek

  • Nematology
  • Population dynamics
  • Pest ecology and biology
  • Pest risk assessment

Irene Vloutoglou

  • Risk assessment for fungal and bacterial plant pathogens
  • Development of quantitative and semi-qualitative methods for pest risk assessment
  • Identification-evaluation of risk management options
  • Application of Systematic Literature Review methodology in pest risk assessment
  • Diagnosis: detection and identification of plant pathogens (with emphasis on wind- and water-dispersed fungi), development of diagnostic protocols for harmful organisms
  • Epidemiology of plant diseases: spatial and temporal dynamics of fungi, seasonal and diurnal periodicity of spore dispersal, disease and spore dispersal gradients, population dynamics, modelling of plant disease epidemics
  • Development-implementation of integrated pest management strategies
  • Scientific consultant on matters related to plant health and integrated pest management

Stephan Winter

  • Plant Virology
  • Diagnosis of plant viruses, viroids and subviral agents
  • Virus epidemiology and risk assessment
  • Virus phylogenetics and evolution
  • Diseases of exotic viruses
  • Insect vectors of viruses

Marina Zlotina

  • Pest and pathway risk assessments and methodology
  • Forest insect quarantine
  • Insect behaviour and chemical ecology
  • Plant resistance to insects
  • Vegetable crop protection 

View the Declarations of Interests of former PLH Panel members for 2006 - 2009.