Juan Carlos De la Concepción, postdoc in the group of Yasin Dagdas, is one of the recipients of this year’s Early Career Research Awards, awarded by the Biochemical Society. De la Concepción’s research addresses a fundamental question in plant biology: How do plants defend themselves against pathogens? Most plant pathogens use complex molecules, called effectors, to bypass the plant’s defenses and enter plant cells. To defend from such attacks, plants employ specialized receptors that recognize pathogen effectors and trigger an immune response.  

Throughout his career, De la Concepción has applied advanced structural biology techniques to study the structural basis of plant-pathogen interactions up to the atomic level. His research uncovered how plant cell receptors bind to pathogen effectors – an essential mechanism in plant immunity – and how pathogen effectors evolve to evade recognition. These discoveries paved the way for engineering the structure of pathogen-recognizing receptors to improve pathogen resistance in plants, a field which was pioneered by De la Concepción. 

During his postdoc at the GMI, De la Concepción introduced the use of Cryogenic Electron Tomography (Cryo-ET) in plant science. Leveraging this technology, he investigates how fungal pathogens build a drill-like cell to breach plant cells and initiate infection. 

The Biochemical Society’s Early Career Research Award recognizes the impact of his work. “This award highlights the contributions my colleagues and I have made over the past few years,” commented Juan Carlos De la Concepción. “I’m humbled by this recognition, which places me among many brilliant scientists who have received this award and gone on to have highly successful careers.” 

About Juan Carlos De la Concepción 

Juan Carlos De la Concepción is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Yasin Dagdas at the Gregor Mendel Institute (GMI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He earned his PhD in Plant and Microbial Sciences at the John Innes Centre, where he received the John Innes Foundation Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research for the best PhD thesis in 2020. After spending one year as a postdoctoral researcher in the Sainsbury Laboratory, De la Concepción joined the GMI in 2021. 

About the Biochemical Society 

Founded in 1911, the Biochemical Society exists to advance molecular bioscience, promoting its importance as an academic discipline, highlighting its role in positively effecting societal challenges, and facilitating the sharing of expertise.