Keiko Torii — CEO

Dr. Torii investigates how positional cues influence cell-fate decisions, translating into functional tissue patterning during the development of multicellular organisms. Specifically, using plant stomatal development as a model, Dr. Torii's group studies how plant cells interpret multiple, often conflicting signals to decide whether to proliferate or differentiate into specific cell types: stomatal guard cells, which facilitate gas exchange and transpiration, and epidermal pavement cells, which protect plants from environmental insults. Her team has discovered how peptide-receptor signal transduction pathways and master-regulatory transcription factors of stomatal development fine-tune the spatiotemporal dynamics of cell division and differentiation through interplay with cell cycle machinery and epigenomic regulators. Dr. Torii recently expanded her study to amphibious model plants to understand how these regulatory pathways are re-wired to enable adaptation of land plants to extreme underwater environments. Finally, through collaboration with organic chemists and structural biologists, Dr. Torii has developed artificial and orthogonal ligand-receptor systems with novel activities to understand and manipulate signaling pathways controlling plant development. Her research provides fundamental insights into developmental logic and provides tools to manipulate plant growth and productivity.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leading researcher in plant biology and molecular genetics.

Location: Austin, Texas, United States

Experience: 26 yrs 7 mos