Anika Damm

Research Group

Plant-Parasite/Pathogen Interactions

Research Overview

Plant-parasitic nematodes are widespread pests, that cause over $100 billion in global crop losses annually. Control measures are extremely limited, and the few nematicides available are being successively removed from the marked. In my PhD thesis, I investigate the biology underlying plant-nematode interactions. The principal question my research aims to address is: “How do nematodes tailor their gene expression to successfully infect plants?”. To infect plants, nematodes rely on small molecules termed effectors. The central hypothesis is that by disrupting the regulation of effector genes, we can disrupt the production of many effectors at once and, thereby, nematode parasitism.

Qualifications

2021 - MSc Crop Sciences - University of Hohenheim, Germany

2019 - BSc Agricultural Science - University of Bonn, Germany

Awards and Grants

• 2025 - Amy Kendal Smith Prize for the best third year poster - Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge
• 2024 - Frank Smart Studentship - Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
• 2024 - David Miller Award - SCI Horticulture Group
• 2024 - Best oral communication - ESN2024, European Society of Nematologists
• 2023 - ESN 2024 travel award - European Society of Nematologists
• 2023 - Frank Smart Studentship - Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
• 2023 - Prize for best student talk - eSCAMPS 2023
• 2023 - Pillman Conference Award - Girton College, University of Cambridge
• 2023 - Departmental Award for the First Year Seminar - Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge
• 2023 - Studienpreis des Unversitaetsbundes Hohenheim e.v. for the best master’s thesis at the faculty of agricultural sciences - University of Hohenheim
• 2022 - Cambridge Trust & Rosalie Crawford Girton Scholarship
• 2022 - PhD studentship in Collaborative Training Program for Sustainable Agricultural Innovation (CTP-SAI)
• 2021 - Best degree in five years, MSc Crop Sciences - University of Hohenheim
• 2019 - Ranked 1st, Bsc Agricultural Science - University of Bonn
• 2019 - Selected participant in Honors Program - University of Bonn

Key Publications

'The SUbventral-Gland Regulator (SUGR-1) of nematode virulence' (2025) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2415861122 

'The origin, deployment, and evolution of a plant-parasitic nematode effectorome' (2024) PLoS pathogens. doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1012395

'Glutathione contributes to plant defence against parasitic cyst nematodes' (2022) Molecular Plant Pathology. doi.org/10.1111/mpp.13210

Committees

2023 to present - Board member - Young Nematologists Network

2023 - Organising Committee - Virtual Nematology Conference 2023

2023 - Organising Committee - CUPGRA Conference 2023