Malin Elfstrand, professor of forest pathology

Malin Elfstrand researches interactions between trees and fungi, both those that cause disease and those that do not. She is particularly interested in the genetic background to the fact that certain tree individuals are severely affected by attacks by fungal diseases such as root rot or ash dieback disease, while other trees of the same species are barely affected at all. In the long term, she wants to be able to use such knowledge to develop a tool-kit that tree breeders can use to select trees with better disease resistance.