Rate My Professor Hervé Vanderschuren

Hervé Vanderschuren is Professor of Crop Biotechnics in the Department of Biosystems at KU Leuven, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering. He heads the Laboratory of Tropical Crop Improvement, which maintains a long tradition in banana research and hosts the Banana World Collection in collaboration with Bioversity International. Vanderschuren obtained his PhD in Plant Biotechnology from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and his MSc in Plant Genetics from AgroParisTech, France. He was appointed Professor in the Department of Biosystems at KU Leuven in 2019 and also holds a position as Professor of Plant Genetics at the University of Liège. His research expertise includes crop biotechnics, genetic engineering of plant resistance genes, plant virology, banana and cassava improvement, soil health, agro-ecological approaches, single cell omics, transposable elements, eccDNA, and virus susceptibility factors. Core research interests encompass plant improvement through conventional and precision breeding, plant molecular responses to biotic and abiotic stresses, epigenome modulation upon stresses, transposable elements and genome variation, ex-situ plant conservation including field collections, in vitro and cryopreservation, technology transfer to laboratories in the tropics, and farming systems with a focus on plant nutrition.

Vanderschuren has published extensively on these topics, with key works including "A comprehensive atlas of full-length Arabidopsis eccDNA populations identifies their genomic origins and epigenetic regulation" (PLoS Biology, 2025), "A BAC-guided haplotype assembly pipeline increases the resolution of the virus resistance locus CMD2 in cassava" (Genome Biology, 2025), "Suppression of Fusarium wilt in banana and growth promotion by the beneficial fungus Trichoderma asperellum TRC900 is cultivar-dependent" (Biological Control, 2025), "From synthetic to biological nitrification inhibition: Advancing stabilization of organic fertilizers" (Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2025), and "Multiplying the efficiency and impact of biofortification through metabolic engineering" (Nature Communications, 2020). He serves as promotor or co-promotor on projects such as Genetic engineering of plant resistance genes, Epidemiology of banana bunchy top disease, Developing advanced agro-ecological approaches, and Advanced Genetic and AMF Contribution for Drought tolerance in Cassava. As an educator, he teaches courses including Crop Production, Agro-Systems, Biological Production Systems, and Integrated Project Tropical Agro- and Ecosystems. His contributions bridge fundamental research on model plants with applied research to improve tropical crops like bananas, plantains, cassava, potato, and chicory, supporting sustainable agriculture for subsistence farmers in the tropics.