Katie Riccio

Research Group

Theoretical and Computational Epidemiology

Research Overview

My PhD project revolves around predicting fungicide resistance evolution by combining theoretical and experimental approaches. Working with the fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici, my work examines the effects of mutations in the CYP51 gene on resistance to azole fungicides, as well as on pathogen fitness under a range of selective scenarios, reflecting current fungicide application strategies. Within this, I work to develop mathematical models to generate predictions of the performance of these genotypes under different competitive and selective scenarios; my experimental work then directly tests these predictions to inform future versions of the models.