Dr. Fredy Altpeter is Professor of Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology at the University of Florida-IFAS. His research program focuses on genetic improvement of crops using genome editing, intragenic and transgenic approaches and is currently funded by the US Department of Energy; United States Agency for International Development and industry. He earned his Dipl. Ing. agr. and Dr. sc. agr. degrees from the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany followed by postdoctoral research in plant molecular genetics with Indra Vasil at the University of Florida and a group leader position at the Plant Genome Resource Center of the IPK Gatersleben, Germany. He is an elected fellow of the Society for In Vitro Biology and recipient of the 2018 University of Florida Research Foundation Award for a distinguished research program and the 2018 High Impact Publication award. He serves as associate editor of "The Plant Genome"; “Plant Breeding” and "Plant Cell Tissue and Organ Culture".