Lance Cadle-Davidson

Lance Cadle-Davidson is a Grape Pathologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, an Adjunct Professor at Cornell University, and Affiliate Faculty at Rochester Institute of Technology. He received his PhD in Plant Pathology from Cornell University.

Dr. Cadle-Davidson’s research program addresses critical needs for sustainable management of grapevine fungal and oomycete diseases. His collaborative research aims to develop new grape varieties that are healthy, delicious, and disease resistant. In the process, his research team analyzes billions of data points to better understand the biology of host and pathogen co-evolution and how their DNA sequences determine which will prevail: the grapevine or the fungus. This basic scientific research combining cutting-edge genomic tools and computer vision-based trait analysis enhances traditional breeding approaches.

Much of this work is done in the _Vitis_Gen grape breeding project, where Dr. Cadle-Davidson works with grape breeders to develop new varieties that combine eco-friendly disease resistance with excellent fruit quality.