Dr. Lisa Morano

Dr. Lisa Morano

Lisa Morano was raised in Southern California and attained a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, Irvine. She then received a Ph.D. in Plant Ecology while studying in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis. While at Davis she also graduated from the Program in College Teaching and interned for the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association. She moved to Michigan for 4 years where she taught at Eastern Michigan University and at Washtenaw Community College. In 2000 she moved to Texas and is now an Associate Professor of Biology and Microbiology at the University of Houston-Downtown. Her husband is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University Texas Health Science Center in Houston. Her hobbies include Tango dancing and spending time with her two daughters.

The Morano house pets (beside children) include: one dog, one parakeet, one cockatiel and one bearded-dragon lizard.

As part of the Texas Pierce’s Disease (PD) Research and Education team, Morano is analyzing the genetic diversity of over 100 isolates of Xylella fastidiosa from both grape and non-grape plants. The goals of the project are to establish each isolate as either a grape or non-grape strain and then to create individual genetic fingerprints for each Xylella isolate. In collaboration with studies being conducted by other collaborators these fingerprinting techniques will allow us to map the epidemiological spread of PD in Texas, understand the ecology of the sharpshooter vector, analyze differences in strain virulence and monitor the effectiveness of plant reservoirs throughout Texas.