Sarah Gurr
{{Short description|British plant pathologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sarah Jane Gurr
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| birth_place = United Kingdom
| nationality = British
| fields = Plant pathology, Mycology, Food security
| workplaces = University of Exeter, University of Oxford, University of St Andrews
| alma_mater = Imperial College London, University of Oxford
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| known_for = Research on fungal diseases in plants and global plant biosecurity
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Sarah Jane Gurr is a British plant pathologist and academic.{{cite web |title=Professor Sarah Gurr |url=https://biosciences.exeter.ac.uk/staff/profile/index.php?web_id=Sarah_Gurr |publisher=University of Exeter |access-date=2025-04-08}} She currently holds the Chair in Food Security at the University of Exeter and was formerly Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology at the University of Oxford.{{cite web |title=Sarah Gurr {{!}} Plant Health Centre |url=https://www.planthealthcentre.scot/people/sarah-gurr |website=Plant Health Centre}} She was recognized as a highly cited researcher worldwide by Clarivate Analytics in 2019, 2023, and 2024.{{cite web |title=Professor Sarah Gurr |url=https://www.rankprize.org/nutrition-committee/professor-sarah-gurr/ |website=Rank Prize}}
Education
Gurr was educated at The King’s School, Canterbury.{{cite web |title=Sarah Gurr: Alumni Story |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/alumni/alumni-stories/sarah-gurr/ |publisher=Imperial College London |access-date=2025-04-08}} She studied at Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, gaining a BSc (Hons) in Plant Sciences, Associate of Royal College of Science (ARCS), Diploma of Imperial College (DIC), PhD in Plant Pathology, and an MA from University of Oxford.{{cite web |last1=Barker |first1=Michael |title=Food security expert Sarah Gurr joins East Malling Trust |url=https://www.fruitnet.com/fresh-produce-journal/food-security-expert-sarah-gurr-joins-east-malling-trust/257956.article |website=Fruitnet |language=en}}
Academic career
Post-graduation, Gurr began her academic career as a Research Assistant at Shell Research International in Sittingbourne, UK. She was a post-doctoral fellow at St Andrews University and then held a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Jack |title=Sarah Gurr - Somerville College Oxford |url=https://www.some.ox.ac.uk/our-people/sarah-gurr/ |website=Somerville College Oxford |date=9 July 2021}} Gurr was appointed as a University Lecturer at the University of Oxford in 1992 and Tutorial Fellow (Daphne Osborne Fellow) at Somerville College, Oxford. She became Reader and then Professor of Molecular Plant Pathology in 2004. Since 2013, she has held the Chair in Food Security at the University of Exeter.{{cite web |title=Articles {{!}} News archive {{!}} University of Exeter |url=https://news-archive.exeter.ac.uk/disciplines/naturalsciences/articles/world-renownedscientistjo.html |website=news-archive.exeter.ac.uk}}
Research
Gurr’s research focuses on plant diseases, particularly fungal infections and infestations, their global movement, and disease control.{{cite web |last1=Bove |first1=Tristan |title=A 'Last of Us'–style fungi outbreak could obliterate crops worldwide |url=https://fortune.com/2023/05/04/last-of-us-fungi-outbreak-could-obliterate-crops/ |website=Fortune |language=en}} Her work spans scales from fungal cell and molecular biology to modelling the movement of fungi across the globe.{{cite web |title=Exeter researchers discover a novel chemistry to protect our crops from fungal disease |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/679360 |website=EurekAlert! |language=en}} She has authored or co-authored over 190 publications, including high-profile papers in Science and Nature, several patents, and articles in the popular press.{{cite web |title=Sarah Gurr - Google Scholar Citations |url=https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=EgxykQUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra |access-date=2025-04-08}} Her work includes contributions to UK Government Foresight reports and advising on the UK Plant Health strategy (2023) and Gene Editing for Crops bill (2023).{{cite web |last1=Sandes |first1=Duncan |title=Exeter experts ranked among world's most influential scientists |url=https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-environment-science-and-economy/exeter-experts-ranked-among-worlds-most-influential-scientists/ |website=University of Exeter |date=15 November 2023}}
Professional service and recognition
Gurr has held several professional roles, including serving as President of the British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP),{{cite web |title=Senior Fellowships – BSPP – The British Society for Plant Pathology |url=https://www.bspp.org.uk/category/fellowship-reports/senior-fellowships/ |website=British Society for Plant Pathology}} on the Board of Directors at Rothamsted Research, and as Council Member of the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC).{{cite journal |last1=Fisher |first1=Matthew C. |last2=Hawkins |first2=Nichola J. |last3=Sanglard |first3=Dominique |last4=Gurr |first4=Sarah J. |title=Worldwide emergence of resistance to antifungal drugs challenges human health and food security |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aap7999 |journal=Science |pages=739–742 |doi=10.1126/science.aap7999 |date=18 May 2018|volume=360 |issue=6390 |pmid=29773744 }} She is co-chair of Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services (RESAS), Scottish Government, and serves on the International Advisory Board at SLU University, Uppsala.{{cite web |title=Sarah Gurr, Honorary Doctor in Agricultural Science |url=https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/academic-ceremonies/honorary-doctors/honorary-doctors-2020/sarah-gurr/ |website=SLU.SE |language=en}}
She is a member of Plant Health Scotland (James Hutton Institute), a Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, and serves on committees for The Rank Foundation, The Wolfson Trust, and MycoNeos. Gurr held the Donder's Chair (Honorary) at Utrecht University and is Visiting Professor there.{{cite web |title=Sarah Jane Gurr – CIFAR |url=https://cifar.ca/bios/sarah-jane-gurr/ |publisher=Canadian Institute for Advanced Research |access-date=2025-04-08}} She is a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Senior Research Fellow at Somerville College, Oxford, Honorary Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Fellow of the James Hutton Institute, Dundee. Gurr is President-elect of the British Mycological Society (BMS).
Throughout her career, she has received several awards for her contributions to science, including the Huxley Medal from Imperial College,{{cite web |title=Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience: The state of the art |url=https://royalsociety.org/pastevent/?requestedPath=%2Fscience-events-and-lectures%2F2016%2F03%2Femerging-fungal-threats-sm%2F |website=The Royal Society}} a Royal Society Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship, NESTA Fellowship, the BMS President’s prize, Honorary Membership of BSPP, and an Honorary Doctorate by SLU Uppsala.{{cite web |last1=Powell |first1=Anna |title=New Trustee appointed to champion horticultural research |url=https://hortnews.com/new-trustee-appointed-to-champion-horticultural-research/ |website=Hort News |date=16 January 2024}}
Selected publications
- Case, N.T., Gurr, S.J., Fisher, M.C. et al. (2025) Fungal impacts on Earth’s ecosystems. Nature 638, 49–57.
- Fisher, M.C., Burnett, F., Chandler, C. et al. (2024) A one health roadmap towards understanding and mitigating emerging Fungal Antimicrobial Resistance: fAMR. npj Antimicrob Resist 2, 36.
- Stukenbrock, E and Gurr, S.J. (2023) Address the growing urgency of fungal disease in crops. Nature 617, 31–34.
- Johns, L.E., Bebber, B., Gurr, S.J. and Brown, N.A. (2022) Health threat and cost of Fusarium mycotoxins in European wheat. Nature Food 3, 1014–1019.
- Cannon, S. et al. (2022) Multi-site fungicides suppress banana Panama disease. PLOS Pathogens.
- Fisher, M. et al. (2022) Tackling antifungal resistance to human health. Nature Microbiology Reviews.
- Chaloner, T., Gurr, S.J., Bebber, D.P. (2021) The global burden of plant disease tracks yield under climate change. Nature Climate Change.
- Fones, H. et al. (2020) Threats to global food security from emerging fungal pathogens. Nature Food.
- Chaloner, T., Gurr, S.J., Bebber, D. (2020) Geometry and evolution of the ecological niche in microbes. Nature Communications.
- Steinberg, G. et al. (2020) A lipophilic cation protects crops. Nature Communications.
References
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External links
- [https://www.exeter.ac.uk University of Exeter Profile]
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Category:Academics of the University of Exeter
Category:Academics of the University of Oxford
Category:Academics of the University of St Andrews
Category:Alumni of Imperial College London
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:British phytopathologists
Category:British women scientists
Category:Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford
Category:People educated at The King's School, Canterbury
Category:Women phytopathologists