Dear IS-MPMI Colleagues,​

Please join me in supporting our early-career members by giving to the Michael Mishkind Travel Fund. This fund honors the memory of Michael Mishkind, who was a long-time program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation and a strong supporter of research on plant biotic interactions. Indeed, we have Michael to thank for supporting travel grants for Early Career Researchers to attend IS-MPMI congresses for most of our past congresses. Unfortunately, in 2025, that long track record of support from NSF (and the U.S. Department of Agriculture) was interrupted, forcing IS-MPMI to dig deep into its reserves to support travel awards for the 2025 congress in Cologne, Germany. This meant depleting the funds raised in our first round of fund-raising for the Mishkind fund. In preparation for our 2027 meeting in JeJu, South Korea, and to support interim programming such as webinars and early-career forums, our goal is to raise $40,000 to replenish the Mishkind fund. If you are financially able, please consider a generous gift to support the attendance of early-career researchers to our 2027 conference and benefit from our online events. If just 80 of us can donate $500, we would achieve our goal! But, every little bit helps. As an added incentive, an anonymous donor has committed to giving $2,500 once we hit the halfway mark of our target. Just click on Donate.

Thank you in advance for your support of molecular plant–microbe interactions Research!

Roger Innes

Co-founder, Michael Mishkind Travel Fund

Distinguished Professor, Indiana University