2023 SIVB Fellow Award – Dr. Pierluigi Barone

DR. PIERLUIGI BARONE

2023 SIVB Fellow Award Recipient

Dr. Pierluigi Barone

DR. PIERLUIGI BARONE: 2023 RECIPIENT OF THE SIVB FELLOW AWARD
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Piero Barone was the 2023 recipient of the SIVB Fellow Award. Piero is also the incoming President of SIVB and will assume the presidency at the World Congress in St. Louis in 2024.

Piero’s career has been a model of innovation and service at the cutting edge of plant tissue culture biology.  With contributions spanning numerous crops including alfalfa, tobacco, sorghum, sugarcane, soybean, and corn – Piero has contributed protocols, selectable markers, genetic elements, and more. Twenty years on and still at the forefront of the field, Piero leads a team of scientists at Corteva Agriscience™ responsible for delivering innovative advances in gene editing tools and applications. A brief and recent sampling of his team’s influential contributions include 1) the first use of Agrobacterium for efficient CRISPR-mediated gene insertion in corn – a significant advancement over existing biolistic approaches, 2) the reinversion of 75.5 Mb fragment in an elite maize genome that restored the breeding potential of this critical region and, 3) demonstration of a novel and miniature CRISPR nuclease capable of editing in maize that has exciting potential for new applications including viral delivery because of its extremely compact size.

Piero has 16 peer-reviewed publications, 6 issued US patents and several additional patent applications filed. During his career in industry, Piero has received several internal research awards including the Applied Science and Technology Scientific Excellence Award, the Trait Product Development Outstanding Leader Award, and the Trait Product Development Edison Award. He coordinates the annual Biotech Symposium series at Corteva and has been instrumental in developing career and personal development programs.

Piero Barone with President Addy Alt-Holland at the 2023 In Vitro Biology Meeting

Piero has been an active and highly engaged member of SIVB for years. Currently, Piero is the President-Elect of the Society (2022-2024) and he will become SIVB’s President at the annual meeting, June 2024. He served as the Chair of the Development Committee for several years. In that role, Piero has had unprecedented success in raising funds to support the annual meeting and identifying new sources of support. Piero’s efforts significantly impacted SIVB’s financial security, critical during the uncertainty and volatility created by the pandemic. Piero has also served as the chair (2019) or co-chair (2017 & 2018) of the Plant Biotech Section planning committee for the annual meeting. Beyond his official role as program chair, Piero has routinely identified topics and established the program for the annual meeting. Piero has convened or co-convened a scientific session, ranging from “Functional Food” to “Regulations and Transparency” for 7 consecutive years.  Piero is an active participant in student activities and has served on the Student Affairs Committee (2021) and organized the Plant Biotechnology Post-Doctoral Oral Presentation competition (2021). Additionally, Piero is a vocal advocate and communicator for SIVB across several social media platforms.

Piero is an exceptional, highly collaborative, and innovative colleague at Corteva.  As colleagues, we are continually impressed by Piero’s drive, enthusiasm, and accomplishments. Piero represents a standard of scientific and professional excellence that is truly motivational. We are delighted that Piero has been recognized for his contributions to plant gene editing and the Society for In Vitro Biology. He exemplifies every criterion that this award represents.

Submitted by Todd Jones and Jeffry Sander