Federica Brandizzi, University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, has been awarded the Professor Luigi Tartufari Prize in molecular, cellular, and evolutionary biology from the Accademia Nazionale Dei Lincei, an Italian-based scientific institution.
A Michigan State faculty member since 2006, Dr. Brandizzi holds a joint appointment in the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory and the department of plant biology. Her recent award honors her outstanding career contributions to her field, particularly her research on how plants adapt to environmental stressors. Currently, her lab is working on several projects regarding organelle biology, biofuel research, and space biology.
Outside of her position at Michigan State, Dr. Brandizzi serves as the science director and co-investigator in bioenergy crop design at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. She is also a permanent member of the Membrane Biology and Protein Processing Study Section at the National Institutes of Health. Prior to her current role, she was a Canada Research Chair at the University of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Brandizzi received her bachelor’s degree in biology and Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Rome in Italy.