Dr. Moe Hnin Si
SENIOR SCIENTIST PLANT BIOLOGY
Dr. Moehninsi obtained her Masters degree in Biosystems focusing on Cell Developmental Biology and her Doctorate degree in Bio-industrial Sciences focusing on Plant Molecular Biology from the University of Tsukuba, Japan. During her doctorate training, Dr. Moehninsi studied secondary metabolite and plant defense, and led to the discovery of a previously unknown function of Raphanusanin in a light-dependent role of induced resistance to pathogens. After completing her PhD, Dr. Moehninsi did her first postdoctoral position at the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) Japan and studied Molecular Genetics and Functional Genomics, focusing on carbon assimilation and chloroplast development in plants. Her second postdoctoral position was at Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore where she studied Synthetic Biology, focusing on efficient production of high-value volatile food and fragrance compounds by oleaginous yeast as an efficient host. After her postdoctoral studies, she joined as a research associate/scientist at Washington State University-USDA/ARS in Prosser, WA where she studied terpenoid metabolism in Potatoes and focusing on characterizing genetic, environmental, molecular, physiological, and biochemical factors that control accumulation of nutrients and biochemical mechanisms in terms of crop yield, bioenergy, disease resistance and production of improved nutritional qualities in plants.