Lydia Hamek joined the SPMIR group as a Research Engineer in October 2026, following a Master's research internship with the team earlier that year.

Her research focuses on how calcium signaling shapes interactions between the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the phytopathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, particularly under environmental stress conditions such as drought.

Building on her Master's research project, Lydia continues to investigate how bacterial pathogens perceive and manipulate plant signaling pathways and how abiotic stresses influence these interactions.

Her work combines real-time calcium imaging in living cells, genetically modified bacterial strains and plant lines, and transcriptomic analyses to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying plant-pathogen interactions.

Through this research, she contributes to the group's efforts to better understand plant responses to combined biotic and abiotic stresses, with the long-term goal of improving crop resilience and developing sustainable plant protection strategies.