Cornell Researcher Wins Award For Helping Unravel Leafroll Disease
April 15, 2016 
Marc Fuchs
Ten years ago, little was known about grapevine leafroll disease. Marc Fuchs, Associate Professor and Program Leader in the Section of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology at Cornell University, has helped change that.
Working closely with the local wine and grape industry, and cooperating with viticulturists, entomologists, and agriculture economists, Fuchs, through his research, has addressed the disease head-on, learning about its vectors and economic impact on vineyards.
This is just one of the projects that led to Fuchs receiving the 2016 Research Award from the New York Wine & Grape Foundation for his work protecting New York’s grape industry. And it’s one of the research efforts Fuchs is most proud of.
“The multidisciplinary research increased our understanding of the biology and ecology of leafroll viruses in New York,” he says. “Research outputs stressed the urgent need to carefully select planting material derived from clean vine stocks and helped develop profit-maximizing disease management strategies while raising awareness of the detrimental impact on vineyard profitability.”
Research in this area is ongoing, and Fuchs hopes his efforts, along with those of his colleagues, will help optimize disease management options and help reinstate a grapevine certification program in New York. He’s also hopeful his research can contribute to the development of grapevines that are resistant to diseases such as leafroll.
Ultimately, though, his goal is to help improve vineyard profitability for New York’s grape growers.
“Being recognized by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation through the research and education award made me realize how appreciative the industry is,” he says.
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