Dorith Rotenberg

Bio

Dorith Rotenberg co-directs the Plant Virus Vector Interactions Lab and is an affiliate of the Emerging Plant Diseases – Global Food Security Cluster at NCSU. Her foundational research initiatives center on the long-range goal of identifying and characterizing insect vector determinants of plant virus transmission to crop plants using a combination of ecological and genomics-based tools. Dr. Rotenberg is internationally recognized for her research on thrips-orthotospovirus-plant interactions and her work has led to the development of Frankliniella occidentalis (major threat to global food security) as the model insect vector for studying molecular plant bunyavirus – vector host interactions. Her funded research projects range from developing biotechnological approaches for controlling plant viruses to identifying and characterizing new resistance-breaking orthotospoviruses occurring in commercial tomato fields to studying the ecology and epidemiology of sub-tropical vector-transmitted diseases (corn planthopper & maize mosaic rhabdoviruses). Dr. Rotenberg teaches an advanced graduate course in vector transmission of plant pathogens and has a long-standing record of advocacy and research mentorship of diverse undergraduate and graduate students in STEM through formal programs.