Welcome Luíza

It is a pleasure to formally announce the newest addition to the SAIFood Team, Dr. Luíza Favaratto! We have been lucky enough to have Luíza join SAIFood and our team’s research here at the University of Saskatchewan as a Postdoctoral Researcher! Back in June, Luíza moved from Brazil to Saskatchewan, and she has been spending the summer getting her feet wet in research, and you will be hearing a lot more from her in the near future on this platform. She might be new to Canada, but she isn’t new to SAIFood. We have been lucky enough to feature blogs from her research on GM crops of Latin America and the Caribbean, sticky diseases in papayas, and green coconut fuel.

Luíza’s Background

Unlike most of us on SAIFood who are trained in agricultural economics, business, and policy, Luíza comes from a science background. She has led groundbreaking projects in waste reuse, such as 2G ethanol production, and has explored life in extreme environments, including the deep sea. Dedicated to pushing the boundaries of scientific innovation, she has also harnessed the power of CRISPR-Cas9 to bolster plant immunity against viruses, paving the way for a more resilient agricultural landscape.

Beyond her research, Dr. Favaratto is deeply committed to addressing food insecurity and the climate crisis. As a writer, she has published four books that demystify biotechnology for a broader audience, in addition to contributing relevant articles and book chapters to international journals. She firmly believes that gene editing holds the key to enhancing crop resilience and nutritional value, offering hope for a more equitable and sustainable food future.

Great things to come

We are so fortunate to have Luíza join our team and bring a new perspective. Not only does Luíza bring fresh eyes as a biologist to our research and blogs, but she is also new to the views of Saskatchewan and Canadian farming, agricultural industry, and policy, giving us the opportunity to see more through a wider lens. Our team is looking forward to sharing the content she is working on right now, and we hope as readers, it allows you to ask more scientific questions that she can bring an expert response to.