John M. McDowell

John M. McDowell is the J.B. Stroobants Professor of Biotechnology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. His major area of research is phytopathology and plant-pathogen interactions. He has used gene-sequencing technology to examine the genome of Phytophthora capsici and to develop strains of soybean plants that are better able to defend against pathogens.

Early life and education
McDowell received his B.A. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Tennessee (1987). He received his Ph.D. in genetics, from the University of Georgia (1995).

Career
McDowell was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Jeffery Dangl at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1995-1999.

McDowell joined the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 2000. In 2017, he was named the J.B. Stroobants Professor of Biotechnology at Virginia Tech. As of 2018, he became a Professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences at Virginia Tech. He has served as associate scientific director at the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech.

McDowell is a strong advocate for Congressional funding of scientific research, emphasizing its importance to farmers and food production and its impact on the U.S. economy.

McDowell has served on the editorial boards of multiple journals. He has been editor-in-chief of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (2016-2018). He joined the Annual Review of Phytopathology in 2019, and became the journal's co-lead editor with Gwyn A. Beattie in 2022.

Research
McDowell studies fundamental biological principles underlying plants' susceptibility to disease, and their defense mechanisms against pathogens. His work is relevant to the development of crops with the ability to resist pathogens and increase yield. For example, McDowell has studied the genome of a pathogen that kills soybeans, the second most planted crop in the U.S.. and used that information to develop strains of soybean plants that are better able to defend against the pathogen. He has worked with David Haak and others on the development of gene-sequencing technology and the examination of the complex genome of Phytophthora capsici. P. capsici attacks plants including soybeans, tomatoes, and lavender.

Awards and honors

 * 2016, Academy of Faculty Leadership, Virginia Tech