Brasília, Federal District, Brazil
Maria Fatima Grossi-de-Sa is a Researcher Group Leader at EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology and Professor at the Catholic University of Brasília, Brasília-DF, Brazil. She is also the Coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology – PlantStress Biotech INCT at EMBRAPA and Director President of the Brazilian Society of Biotechnology. She is a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Science (TWAS). In 2018, she received the Commander medal of the National Order of Scientific Merit. She works in a wide range of research interests with an emphasis on plant biotechnology. Her main research interests are: plant-pest molecular interactions, focused on phytonematodes and insect-pests; development of GM crop plants for tolerance/resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses; understanding the molecular RNAi mechanism on insect pests, and; development of biopharmaceuticals. She is classified as scientific researcher 1A at the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq), and has coordinated several research projects finnaced by EMBRAPA, FAP-DF, CAPES, and CNPq. Currently, her research group is funded by industries and the productive sector of agribusiness.