Dr Pallavi Singh
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow

Profile

Biography

Pallavi is a plant scientist working at the interface of plant physiology, functional genomics and synthetic biology, with a research programme focused on understanding and engineering how plants capture carbon, use water and communicate across biological boundaries. Growing up surrounded by rice fields and mango orchards in India sparked her early fascination with plants. She studied Botany and Chemistry as an undergraduate and completed a Masters degree in Biochemistry at the University of Lucknow, where she was awarded the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for academic excellence, before completing her PhD at the National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi. She subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at Cornell University, USA, before moving to the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, where she was appointed the John Henry Coates Research Fellow at Emmanuel College. She then established her independent research group at the University of Essex before moving to the University of York in October 2026. Pallavi’s contributions to plant science have been recognised through several awards, including the NASI Young Scientist Platinum Jubilee Award (2017) from the National Academy of Sciences, India; the INSA Medal for Young Scientists (2019) from the Indian National Science Academy; the Society for Experimental Biology President’s Medal in Plant Biology (2024); and The Plant Journal Fellowship Award (2024).

Research

Overview

Research in my lab focuses on understanding and engineering the biological processes that govern plant productivity, with the overarching goal of developing crops that use water and carbon more efficiently. Working at the interface of plant molecular physiology, functional genomics and synthetic biology, we investigate how plants coordinate photosynthesis, water transport and communication across tissues and organs, and how these processes can be redesigned to improve crop performance in a changing climate. A central theme of our research is harnessing evolutionary diversity to engineer new biological capabilities in crops. Through my UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, we investigate the genetic, cellular and physiological basis of water-use efficiency in grasses. By combining natural variation, comparative genomics, phenotyping and cereal grafting, we aim to identify and transfer beneficial traits from naturally water-efficient species into major crops such as rice, enabling productivity with less water. A second theme explores how biological boundaries between species, cells and organelles can be understood and engineered. We investigate graft compatibility between evolutionarily distant species and the mechanisms that enable signals, resources and genetic material to move across graft interfaces. We also harness the ability of parasitic plants, particularly European mistletoe, to connect with diverse hosts as a model for designing programmable interspecies interfaces. In parallel, we are developing synthetic biology approaches to engineer chloroplast genomes and introduce synthetic genetic systems into plants. Across these research themes, we integrate genome engineering, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, high-resolution imaging and functional phenotyping to connect molecular and cellular mechanisms with whole-plant function. By bridging fundamental plant biology with engineering and translational crop research, our goal is to develop new strategies to improve photosynthesis, enhance resource-use efficiency and build more resilient crops for a sustainable agricultural future.

Projects

UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship

ARIA Synthetic Plants

ARIA Opportunity Seed

BBSRC Network Grant OryzaNet

Research group(s)

https://www.thepallavisinghlab.com/

Teaching

Undergraduate

My teaching philosophy is centred on inspiring curiosity, encouraging critical thinking and helping students connect fundamental biological principles with real-world challenges. I aim to equip students with the scientific knowledge, practical skills and confidence to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing agriculture and the environment.

Lectures

My teaching interests span plant physiology, photosynthesis, molecular biology, functional genomics and synthetic biology. I particularly enjoy exploring how plants capture carbon, use water and respond to environmental stresses, and how advances in engineering biology can help develop more sustainable and climate-resilient crops.

Research Projects

I offer research-led projects that integrate students into an active research environment. Projects span photosynthetic engineering, plant water-use efficiency, cereal grafting, plant-plant communication, functional genomics and synthetic biology. I encourage students to take ownership of their research, develop experimental and analytical skills, and gain experience in communicating their findings.

Postgraduate

Supervision and Mentoring

I am passionate about supporting the next generation of scientists and fostering an inclusive, collaborative research environment. Having pursued an international academic career across India, the USA and the UK, I particularly value mentoring students from diverse backgrounds and helping them develop the independence, creativity and confidence needed for successful careers in science and beyond.