Carolina biologist wins Wolf Prize in Agriculture

Jeffery L. Dangl's research on plant immune systems has led to strategies to control a broad spectrum of plant diseases.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., March 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Jeffery L. Dangl, a biologist at UNC-Chapel Hill, was part of an award-winning trio of researchers who received the 2025 Wolf Prize in Agriculture "for groundbreaking discoveries of the immune system and disease resistance in plants."

The Wolf Prize acknowledges scientists and artists worldwide for their outstanding achievements in advancing science and the arts for the betterment of humanity. In the scientific domain, the awards are conferred to pioneers in the fields of medicine, agriculture, mathematics, chemistry and physics.

Celebrating its 46th year, the Wolf Prize has established a legacy of international recognition. To date, 382 scientists and artists have been honored.

The Wolf Prize in Agriculture is sometimes referred to as "the Nobel Prize in Agriculture." It was awarded jointly to laureates Dangl, Jonathan D.G. Jones of the Sainsbury Laboratory, United Kingdom, and Brian J. Staskawicz, the Maxine J. Elliot Professor and chair of the plant and microbial biology department at the University of California, Berkeley.

Plants are susceptible to various pathogens, including fungi, bacteria and viruses. This can lead to significant yield losses that can threaten the global food supply.

The prize citation stated that "much of our current knowledge about the plant immune system stems from the groundbreaking discoveries made by Jeffery Dangl, Jonathan Jones and Brian Staskawicz … and their combined contributions significantly shaped our current understanding of the field, leading to targeted strategies to enhance resistance and to control a broad spectrum of plant diseases."

Dangl is the recipient of numerous honors, including election as a foreign member of the Royal Society, the U.K.'s national academy of sciences and the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. He was also elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the German National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Microbiology, and he is among Clarivate's international list of "highly cited researchers."

Dangl is the John N. Couch Distinguished Professor of Biology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He holds a joint appointment in the microbiology and immunology department in the UNC School of Medicine.

Read more about the Wolf Prize in Agriculture winners and about the Dangl lab.

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SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Communications