Van Dijck Lara

Van Dijck Lara - Postdoctoral fellow

Career path

Lara obtained her Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology from Ghent University in 2021, where she completed her Master’s thesis in the group of Prof. Anne Willems (Laboratory of Microbiology). After a 6 month internship in the biotic stress group at KWS (Germany), she joined the group of Prof. Jane Parker in April 2022 at the department of Prof. Paul Schulze-Lefert in the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne. As part of the DFG Priority Programme DECRyPT_2125, her PhD research focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying plant iron nutrition, centred on the interplay between plant root-derived coumarins and fungal endophytes. She obtained her PhD degree in October 2025. Since 2026, Lara is a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Sofie Goormachtig (VIB–UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology). Her current research explores innovative strategies to strengthen legume–rhizobium symbioses. This includes the development of plant signalling molecules derived from poultry proteins as seed treatments to enhance nitrogen fixation in crops such as soybean, in collaboration with the company STAMAGRO.

Matchmaking

A drone overview of the soybean fields.

Overview

After the success of the Soy in 1000 Gardens project, we have taken interesting rhizobial candidates forward to identify the most efficient matches between them and different soybean genotypes. This will help us to bring soybean agriculture to the colder North-western European climates. 

Rhizospheres in the lead role

"Nature Awards Science in Shorts" is an annual event hosted by the scientific journal Nature to celebrate science communication through short films. This year, colleagues from the Goormachtig lab at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology won the public's favorite prize in the competition at the "Curious2024 – Future Insight™" conference for their Microbial Medicine for Plants video.

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