Dilfuza Egamberdieva graduated in Biology from the National University of Uzbekistan in 1993 and received her PhD in Agricultural Sciences from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, in 2000. She conducted her postdoctoral studies at the Helsinki University of Finland, University of Florence, Italy; Manchester Metropolitan University, UK; Leiden University in the Netherlands and Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Germany. She established the research laboratory “Plant microbe interactions” at the National University of Uzbekistan. She has received numerous fellowship and awards for her academic achievements, including UNESCO-L’OREAL Fellowship for Women in Science; UNESCO-MAB Award and Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship. In 2012 she was awarded the TWAS Prize in Agricultural Sciences for her innovative contributions to the study of plant-microbe interactions in stressed environments. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in internationaljournals, 40 chapters including in 4 books published by Springer.
Antonio Tiezzi graduated in Biology from the University of Siena, Italy, in 1979. He then worked at Siena University and was a visiting scholar at the Biozentrum, Basel, Switzerland, under an EMBO fellowship. In 1982 gained experience in the vaccine industry at Sclavo (now GSK) in Siena, and in 1983 he undertook research at the Einstein College of Medicine, NY, USA. In 1985 he worked at the Dept. of Environmental Sciences of Siena University and since 1992 he has been a Professor of Plant Cytology at Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy. His main research areas include plant cytoskeleton – he discovered the motor protein kinesin in plants and became a board member of the European Cytoskeleton Forum; and bioactive plant substances. He has published 95 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 25 book chapters; has edited 3 books, including 1 book published by Springer; has participated in numerous international meetings and has coordinated national and international educational/research networks and projects.