Sheng Yang He, professor of plant biology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, has made pioneering contributions to the understanding of the molecular basis of plant susceptibility to bacterial infection. His research investigates how bacteria deploy virulence factors to hijack the plant immune system, hormone signaling
He earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in plant protection from Zhejiang (Agricultural) University in China and his Ph.D. in plant pathology from Cornell University. He completed his postdoctoral work at Cornell University and joined the MSU-Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory in 1995.
His honors include his selection as an investigator by the HHMI and Gordon Betty Moore Foundation, his election as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his receiving of the Valent BioSciences Scientist of the Year Award from the Plant Growth Regulation Society of America. He has been recognized as a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher each year from 2014-2017, placing him among the top one percent of most-cited researchers in his field of publication.